Nevada Lawmakers Nearer To OK'ing Net Betting

jyuter writes: "Nevada has approved in theory to license on-line gambling sites. It will probably take a while for them to actually start licensing since they need (among other things) "resonable assurences" that the vendors can prohibit minors. One lawyer even suggested "biometrics" or a fingerprint scan to detect minors, or GPS to determine if the person playing is in a legal state." The word "spoof" keeps hurling itself across my line of sight. (Should the state get to charge people $500,000 every two years for operating a business without toxic waste? Talk about a barrier to entry!)

Comments

Net Gambling...

[mattkime]

I've been gambling on the net for quite a while now.

I'm on my third DSL provider.

I'll bet...

[msouth]

...that anything I say with a subject like that will be modded up as funny!

Whaddya say, moderators? C'mon, eleven!

:)
--

Awright, online blackjack!

[Tackhead]

You have:
Four of Hearts, Seven of Clubs.
Dealer is showing:
Unknown card, Six of Diamonds
Will you: Hit, Stand, or Double-down?

(Double-down)
Host: dealer.casino.nv.us contacted...
18K read (at 943 bytes/sec)

Player draws: Twelve of Clubs.
Player has: Four of Hearts, Seven of Clubs, Twelve of Clubs. Total=22.

Player Busts.

Dealer draws: Ace of Hearts.
Dealer stands.
Dealer turns over unknown card: Four of Clubs.
Dealer has: Four of Clubs, Six of Diamonds, Nine of Hearts. Total=21.

Dealer wins.

Wager again? Yes/No.

("Aaw, shit, again?!?!?! I always draw a twelve when I'm winning!")

Found $500,000 in couch...

[Greyfox]

I used to do programming for dog tracks. VictoryLand, while I was working there, would average $1.5 million a week. Birmhingham made about $1.8 million its opening night (Breaking a record.) Gulf Greyhound Park in Texas broke $2 Million its first night, a week after Birmingham. $500,000 every 2 years all of a sudden doesn't sound like so much...

Re:Bad for compulsive gamblers

[jmv]

There are two differences here. First, you can buy cigarettes online, but you cannot "smoke online"... and since it's more complicated online than going to the nearest store, online sale of tobacco is not making things any worse for you. Online gambling *is* making things worse.

The second important differences is the implications. If you smoke, you're mainly hurting yourself (sure there's secondary smoke, but it's not that important). If you're addicted to gambling, you're hurting your whole family (as in losing your house, ...) as much as yourself.

Gambling online...

[Zaphod B]

Nevada already has such a favourable tax climate for business due to the casinos that the relocation of would-be online betting parlours to the state could have a very beneficial effect on the existing, non-betting-oriented businesses, particularly in booming Clark County (home to Las Vegas and Henderson, the fastest-growing collection of ugly tract homes in the world).

The question is not whether Nevada will legalise online gambling, but whether this legality will stand when the inevitable challenges happen in Federal court.

As for minors getting in to online gambling illicitly... the way most casinos are set up now could be used as a model:

• Random ID checks involving driver licenses or other government-issued ID
• Requirements for proof of age before 'cashing out'
• Requirements for proof of age before 'entering' (i.e., before setting up an account).

If nothing else, they could use an age verification system as they do on porn sites.

OTOH, 13-year-olds with too much time and money on their hands vs. the authorities and their slow reactions, especially programmatic reactions...'tis no contest whatsoever.

Zaphod B

Entry fee

[gughunter]

The $500,000 fee is to ensure that only serious, committed Mafiosi with a proven customer service track record can get involved.

Fingerprint scans to detect minors ??

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Unless NV maintains a fingerprint database, how can they determine who's a minor and who's not ? they'd have to ask those who want to gamble online to come to an authorized "fingerprinting bureau" in Nevada to register and give their fingerprints. I can't see that being a practical solution.

Or maybe they want to detect dirty fingers to identify teenagers ...

gambling not bad

[physics major]

I see no reason why gambling should not be universally accepted. Why shouldn't minors be allowed to gamble? Gambling fosters an intense devoition to math, which more of our students and young children need. It also teaches them an appreciation for money - they have to save some of their allowance to spend on other entertainments; they cannot gamble it all away. A game of cards is the best teacher for statistics. Some people believe gambling is a tool of the devil, or a satanic ritual, or even an addictive habit. Those of us who are enlightened and know the truths about Darwin, and social habits, and the Bible, are not stumped by these elaborate christian winged throwbacks. Why not even have a gambling class in school? I hope Nevada puts all its casinos on the web. The casinos I've been in are all wholesom family centers of enjoyment. Yes, there are sections of scantly clad women, but you just have to keep your children away from there. Gambling could be just the thing we need to get our children interested in school, science, and economics. I'm all for it!

I can't see this as being a Good Thing (tm)

[Vidmaster_Steve]

As a resident of the Great State of Nevada, I can't see how this could be a Good Thing (tm) for the state. Nevada gains the brunt of its revenue from tourism, with mining running a tight second. Now, people don't exactly come to the Silver State for the monochromatic landscapes and exotic florae and faunae (woo sagebrush!), they come for the gambling (and legal hookers ^_^, except in that lame-ass Clark county, you guys suck).
Unless there's some wacky tax thing that I don't fully understand, the State doesn't pull any tax dollars off of gambling online. No State revenue from gambling is a Bad Thing (tm). Want an example, take Hwy 50 going east out of Fallon. Last time I was down that way, the road was in a horrible state of disrepair. If these online casinoes start to crop up all over the United States, then the Great State of Nevada could stand to lose millions annually. Legal gambling in other states = bad.

Nevada has no "W" in it, so stop pronouncing it like it does. Nevada != Nuh vaw duh