Gaming Control Considers Regulating Online Gambling
The Nevada Gaming Control board looked at the possibility of sanctioning internet gaming Friday. The regulators commissioned a study by UNLV to gauge interest amongst Nevada residents in gambling over the internet.
The Internet Gaming Prohibition Act bans the financial transaction on games of chance for people in the United States -- Nevada regulators say not so fast.
"There is some ability or there is some argument that now there is an exemption to the federal law," said Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander.
It's the same exemption that allows the wagering on horse races and only applies in states where betting on horses is legal, like Nevada.
Neilander says, gaming companies and technology companies have pressured regulators to license internet gambling web sites based in Nevada. "A number of these groups have said, "Why don't you look at regulating it just for Nevada?"
The companies made claims that a majority of Nevadans gamble over the internet, so the Gaming Control Board commissioned the UNLV study to find hard facts.
Professor and director of the UNLV's Gambling Institute, Bo Bernhard conducted the study. He says 65.4-percent of people in Nevada just don't care about gambling online.
The study also shows only 3.7-percent of people in Nevada have gambled online in the past five years.
"As it stands right now it appears to be a relatively low prevalence behavior," said Bernhard.
Gaming regulators decided to wait and see if interest increases among Nevada gamblers. Even though it may be legal for Nevada regulators to sanction online sites in Nevada, they say they will commission the study again only if there is a major national policy change on internet gambling.
Gaming Control Considers Regulating Online Gambling
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