Illinois Joins List of States Seeking Online Gambling
Illinois has become the latest in a rapidly growing number of states looking to regulate online gambling within state borders. The state Senate is considering legalizing horse race gambling on the Internet or by phone.
Like several states' lawmakers before them, Illinois legislators are asking themselves why bypass revenues when online gambling is occuring anyway. Members of the Illinois Racing Board say allowing Internet wagering on horse races could raise as much as $2 million for the state.
Senate President John Cullerton wants to go further and also permit lottery sales online. Of course, he hopes the UIGEA debacle in North Dakota and New Hampshire can be resolved by the time Illinois goes to the Internet, as those states see legal online lottery sales blocked unintentionally by the federal law.
Illinois joins New Jersey, California, and Nevada among states that have expressed desire to circumvenbt the UIGEA and host online gaming in one form or another on an intrastate basis. The UIGEA expressly exempts instate Internet gambling from its payment bans, although people in the Dakotas and New England may scoff.
If racing bets and lottery sales are allowed through online and mobile means, lawmakers say measures against underage gambling will be effected to prevent system abuse. Gaming insiders are wondering whether most of the states will craft their own online casino laws before the federal government gets around to the inevitable repeal of the UIGEA.
