Harry Reid, the senate majority leader and a senator from the great state of Nevada, has casinos in the state, including Las Vegas casinos, worried. So, what has the democrat from Nevada done to cause this consternation? Well, he’s indicated that he will support fellow democrat Barney Frank’s gambling legislation. Barney Frank’s bill HR 2267 (trust me, the number is easier than the actual name of this one) would provide a process for licensing and taxing of online gambling while putting measures in place to protect consumers. Now most gamblers themselves are in favor of the legislation because it provides gamblers with more options.
But brick and mortar casinos are worried about the potential competition from online casinos. After all, they would mean that people wouldn’t have to travel to Las Vegas to gamble. Or even to leave their house and drive to the nearest casino to their town. This of course worries casinos who make money only if we travel and play with them.
Now Harry Reid has said that he only supports online gambling in the form of online poker, not general casino gambling. Online poker should be less of a worry for real life casinos because poker games aren’t really a large source of income for casinos. In poker, players play against each other and the casino only earns money from the “rake” which is a percentage of the pot. Since poker tables take up space and the games take time to play out, there isn’t a quick turnover from poker. Also, online poker rooms do sponsor real world poker tournaments that take place at brick and mortar casinos.
But the casinos feel that legalizing even just online poker would open the door to other forms of online gambling. Now I like Las Vegas. It’s a unique sort of city and a game of online slots certainly doesn’t match a trip to Vegas. And if Nevada can keep Vegas special, it never will.