Delaware is Ready to Roll the Dice on Online Gambling

The state of Delaware is reportedly just one step away from the legalization of online gambling which would allow its residents to have access to online poker, online blackjack, scratch-cards and more at the click of a button in the very near future.

Whilst internet gambling in United States is still a hotly disputed topic, Delaware’s governor sees little opposition in his way to make the state one of the first to accept online gambling.

The current proposal would see the three major casinos in Delaware all run online casinos that are effectively ruled by the state, whilst offering them a multi million dollar tax reduction in the process.

The governor, Jack Markell, also wishes to expand state lottery and keno onto the online format, in a bid to maximise the potential wealth available to a growing market.

Ever since the U.S. Department of Justice effectively ruled that online gambling was legal in the country, citing that only sports betting should be considered illegal under the United States federal wire act, the states have been running to catch up.

Whilst several have stressed that they have no desire to alter the old American gambling laws in their region, many are desperately attempting to grasp this new source of income with both hands. Although, a heated debate has taken place about the possible consequences of such a move in most states.

Under the new changes, the three casinos would see their annual licensing fee drop to roughly three million dollars. A total of seven million dollars would be wiped off the tables, with the four million dollar slot fee expunged, along with half of the annual $6.75 million table games charge.

The critical issue is that Delaware would now be in control of how the casinos were able to use the excess savings, preferring them to be invested into marketing and debt reduction. They would be forbidden for applying for new operating licenses with the excess cash. This doesn’t appear to be too big a problem however, and something the casinos are all to happy to oblige in.

The governor’s office has predicted an increase in taxable income to the sum of roughly $3.1m in annual revenue, whilst outlets selling new scratch-cards would only get to keep a meager five percent of the sale. Again though, this doesn’t seem to upset the proprietors of casino and gambling games.

As well as internet casinos, Delaware is also researching mobile casino technology. The advent of mobile casinos has seen a massive surge in popularity over the last year and is very much something Delaware feel they can take advantage of.

Running online poker sites in United States on a mobile platform is most likely to reveal the biggest turn of fortune for the state. Delaware has commented that while originally, mobile gamers will only be allowed to play inside the state itself, that eventually cross-state alliances could be forged to allow inter-state play for the platform. That is if it’s neighboring states play ball and legalize online gambling also.

According to the new deal, all profits up to $3.75 million would belong to the state and anything after is split between the casinos, with the state keeping 95% of all state lottery sales, which would also be available for purchase on a new website.

The new legislation has been penned the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012 and will be filed within a weeks’ time. Although there are no apparent obstacles remaining in the way for the bill to pass, there are still small pockets of disgruntled anti-gamblers who demand to see it fail. This according to Pete Schwartzkopf, a house majority leader, will not be a major problem.