With money leaving the district, Washington D.C. wants to enact legislation to OK online casino gaming in the area
Residents of the country’s capital Washington D.C. run to nearby states for a fun evening or weekend of casino gambling. Legal gaming can be found in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and much closer in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. Needing income, like so many other states across the land, Washington would like to take advantage of some of the millions of dollars that are generated from gambling every year.
Washington bureaucrats would like residents to stay near home to gamble - or stay at home! In fact, the local officials believe that by the end of the year, internet gaming will be offered to area residents who could enjoy a wide offering of casino games online.
Speaking about gamers, Buddy Roogow, executive director of the D.C. Lottery, said “They can do it from Starbucks, a restaurant, bar or hotel, or from a private residence.” Roogow says he would expect the games to bring in roughly $9 million a year, and continued Roogow: “That’s real money in D.C.”
Washington is not the only local government in the U.S. to assume that online gaming could help provide needed money to the coffers. Other state governments such as Iowa, California and Massachusetts are studying and trying to pass legislation that would allow internet gaming from those jurisdictions.
The U.S. Justice Department, however, seems to be against Internet gambling. They are backed by those who maintain that online gambling might encourage addictive gambling behavior that could lead to problems with debt.
The states, also concerned about their citizens, reply that they will enforce protections to handle any problem gambling issues; but they maintain that the revenue the gaming could bring in would supplement tax monies that are currently generated from horse tracks, poker clubs and land-based casinos.
