As MGW recently reported, last week Texas representative Joe Barton introduced the Internet Poker Freedom Act of 2013. If passed, the legislation, which only applies to poker, would help states legalize it without interference from the federal government .
It’s a trend we’ve already observed in the states of Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey where lawmakers have made legal some forms of online gambling. Yet, there remain concerns about the economic impact of online gaming to traditional land-based casinos.
However, according to Scott Harrison, a senior analyst at Argent Capital Management in St Louis, the legalization of online gambling would not harm land-based casino profits. In other countries where online gambling is legal, he says, it hasn’t.
Morgan Stanley corroborates that claim, reporting that in the years proceeding the introduction of the Interactive Gambling Act in Australia, money that consumers spent on casino gambling continued to increase. Money made from online betting continued to increase as well.
“Across the globe, where online gambling has been legalized, it has not cannibalized casino revenue,” Harrison says of online gambling.
With the exception of Jim Franke, senior vice president and general manager of Ameristar Casino St. Charles, officials from six St. Louis area casinos had no comment on the introduction of the new legislation. Jim Franke says that they are “looking at both the positive and negative impacts” that online poker would have on the company.
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