IGC strongly supports North Dakota poker bill
March 3, 2005
The Interactive Gaming Council strongly supports a bill passed
by the North Dakota House of Representatives that would legalize
online poker and establish a structure to regulate and tax this
form of entertainment. The bill passed the House on Feb. 16 and
will be the subject of a hearing in the state Senate on March 8.
'This is a bold, far-sighted move by Rep. Jim Kasper, the
primary sponsor of the bill, and his supporters in the North Dakota
legislature,” said Rick Smith, executive director of
the IGC. “Thousands of people in the U.S. and worldwide
are playing online poker daily, and North Dakota has the chance
to lead U.S. jurisdictions in legally recognizing this reality.
Its regulations would help protect players, while generating tax
revenue for the state and nurturing a new local industry.”
Online poker has taken the interactive gaming industry by storm
in recent years. The largest poker site, Party Poker, claims to
have as many as 65,000 players competing at peak times. Its owner,
Party Gaming, is considering a public stock offering in the UK.
A British newspaper, The Guardian, said analysts project that the
stock market would value Party Gaming at £3 billion, more
than the value of traditional companies such as British Airways.
“Poker is a very popular game,” said Keith
Furlong, deputy director of the IGC. “It’s as
American as jazz, baseball and apple pie. Yet because of the hostility
of the federal government towards any form of online gaming, no
poker sites have yet been based on American soil. The economic activity
and the revenue associated with online poker remain offshore, where
they provide no tax benefits to the U.S.
“Traditionally, gambling regulation has been left to the states.
Here’s a state that wants to take online gaming in a new direction.
We hope it’s successful, and trust that the federal government
will leave North Dakota alone if it chooses to go forward with this
initiative.”
The IGC realizes that establishing regulated online poker in North
Dakota will not happen overnight, and encourages state officials
to take the time to get it right. Published reports say that the
governor supports the bill. Even if the bill is passed by the state
Senate and signed by the governor, however, a constitutional amendment
may have to be approved by the state’s voters.
Rep. Kasper has asked people involved in the online poker industry
to attend the March 8 hearing in Bismarck, the capital of North
Dakota. The IGC calls on operators of poker sites, software developers
and other suppliers, and even players to help Rep. Kasper by showing
up in Bismarck to make the case for licensed, regulated online poker
to legislators, the media and the general public.
“While other countries, including Britain, move ahead
with regulated Internet gaming, the U.S. government continues to
fight this form of gaming at every opportunity,” Furlong
said. “At the same time, the U.S. is home to more players
at online gaming sites than any other country, and state officials
are beginning to realize that the Internet is just another means
of delivering the gaming product, which is already legal in many
other forms in most states of the U.S. They understand that it can
be regulated online just as it is in the real world.
“State legislators in Illinois and Georgia recently introduced
bills to permit the online sale of lottery tickets. At the local
level, many government officials can see that attempts to thwart
the rapidly growing Internet gaming industry are not doing anyone
any good. Consumers are not receiving the regulatory protection
they need, state and local governments are losing a source of tax
revenue, and American companies are being deprived of opportunities
in a global market, whose revenue for 2004 was estimated by Christiansen
Capital Advisors at $7.5 billion.”
In January, Frank Catania testified before a meeting of the National
Council of Legislators from Gaming States. Catania, the former director
of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, observed that
82 jurisdictions worldwide provide some form of regulation for various
types of Internet gaming. He said, “The ability to do
real time auditing makes regulation easier and more efficient than
the systems currently used by the terrestrial casino regulators.
State-of-the-art technology, combined with proper operating procedures,
has proven effective in preventing minors from gambling online and
in combating money laundering. . . .
“This form of gambling cannot be stopped, but it can be effectively
regulated and taxed.”
The IGC believes the logic of governmental licensing, rigorous regulation
and appropriate taxation should apply to all areas of online gaming.
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