Online Gambling Discussion Reveals Opposing Ideas among Industry Leaders

Despite the fact that online gaming has achieved considerable progress in recent times, there are still disagreements between leaders of land-based and online casinos.

Legislators in Pennsylvania remain undecided whether or not to make the state the most-populous that permits and maintains a mobile betting policy.

Executive at Caesars Entertainment’s interactive unit, Michael Cohen, addressed the state Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee. He highlighted that people who bet online are not regular visitors to casinos.

Andrew Abboud of Las Vegas Sands stressed online gambling would in fact divert customer from his resort in Bethlehem. “We’re looking at turning every house in Pennsylvania into a casino. Gaming was never expected to be anywhere.”

Two years ago, Pennsylvania managed to surpass rival gambling state New Jersey as the state with the second-largest casino market in the US. Currently, the state has 12 properties at which players can gamble.

Strike while the iron is hot

Chairman of the Valley Forge Casino Resort, Robert Pickus, believes that the window of opportunity is now. Projections of online operations show that the current time is the right to strike, therefore the state should take charge and make efforts to take the lead in the gaming industry.

Michael Cohen is convinced that installing more mobile casinos in the US is the way of the future. “The internet is a new distribution channel, tapping a new customer.”

However, Abboud disagrees with the general idea of online gaming. He believes that there are not enough effective systems installed in the overall online gaming process. “No computer can tell me if I’ve had too much to drink.”