DC to offer Internet gambling, becomes first in US

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON – The District of Columbia is becoming the first U.S. jurisdiction to allow Internet gambling, trying to raise millions of dollars from the habits of online poker buffs and acting ahead of traditional gambling meccas like New Jersey and Nevada.

Permitting the online games was part of the 2011 budget and a 30-day period for Congress to object expired last week, said D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown, who authored the provision. The gaming would be operated by Intralot, a Greece-based company, and would be available only to gamblers making bets within the borders of the district.

Officials were not sure when the gaming would be up and running, though DC lottery officials said they were in talks with their vendor and expect to know more within weeks. Though other states have contemplated legalizing online poker, experts said the district would be the first jurisdiction in the country to do it.

The move to legalize the games comes despite a 2006 federal law effectively banned Internet gambling. The law prohibited banks and credit card companies from processing payments to gambling websites in states where such transactions would violate the law of the state. But gambling experts say the law created gray areas that open the door for an expansion into the multibillion-dollar industry.

"There was really no clear law that said we could not do this," Brown said Wednesday.
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Online gambling gets its foot in the door.

[Saltbag]

Hehe, my first image after reading the headline was seeing the current voting odds tickering across the bottom of C-Span.