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Legal Online Gambling Could Return To the US (digitaltrends.com)

Posted by msmash on from the up-next dept.

A new report says legal online gambling may be coming back to the U.S., not from an casino magnate such as Steve Wynn or Sheldon Adelson, but rather a headphone industry executive. From a report: Now Monster, the same company that turned the headphone industry upside down with Dr. Dre, plans to revive online gambling in America by enlisting someone with a different kind of notoriety: Fred Khalilian. He's a former telemarketing kingpin, wannabe reality TV personality, two-time FTC loser -- and now, the new COO of Monster. He plans to open the company's gambling site, PokerTribe.com, on or before December 15. And he might just make the company billions. So he might also be a genius. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Gambling is illegal, right? Sort of. How will a headphone maker succeed in online gambling where Trump, Branson, and others have failed? "The roadmap is unbelievable, fraught with laws, certifications, international law, gaming commissions, all that stuff. Very, very complex," Monster CEO Noel Lee exclusively told Digital Trends. "But [Fred] has overcome. He's found his niche, he's worked his way through the government, through the Federal Trade Commission, through all of that, with a strategy that's built around the American Indians."

9 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Tell me, what side am I on here? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    On one hand, why not?

    On the other hand, do I want to side with someone who is "a former telemarketing kingpin, wannabe reality TV personality, two-time FTC loser"?

    I feel kinda reminded of the whole "MAFIAA vs. Kimmie Dotcom" deal. There, I just wanted both sides to lose. Here, I wouldn't mind legalized gambling, but at the price of having such a slimeball getting his way?

    --
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    1. Re:Tell me, what side am I on here? by H3lldr0p · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think it's safe to be against the pro-gambling this time around. Not only because it's gambling we're talking about and we all know how bad humans are at figuring odds, but they're also hinting in the blurb that it involves further exploiting the already exploited.

    2. Re:Tell me, what side am I on here? by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

      Not only because it's gambling we're talking about and we all know how bad humans are at figuring odds,

      Some are, some aren't. Some are good enough that they succeed as full-time professionals. Some are so bad that they might as well just toss the money on the table and walk away. But it is entertainment, and those who want to do it should be allowed.

      Some people are terrible at controlling their consumption of alcohol. Do we ban alcohol to protect them from themselves, meanwhile denying it to those who have no problem? Been there, done that, failed.

      but they're also hinting in the blurb that it involves further exploiting the already exploited.

      I don't see that in "the blurb". Where is the exploitation? I'm going to GUESS that you mean the reference to the American Indians. Other than using an old name, how does this say he's exploiting them? I see that as saying that he's using the same laws that allow gambling operations run by Native Americans.

      In case you weren't aware, these gambling operations are a huge source of revenue for the Native American community. They rake in money and get a lot of jobs for their people. One local tribe that has a thriving casino also has a section set aside showing the benefits that come to the tribe from that casino.

      No, casino operation is not a way that Native Americans are being exploited.

  2. other monster the one with over priced cables by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 4, Informative

    other monster the one with over priced cables

  3. Apache called themselves Indians before Euros came by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Apache word for "people" is Ndee, sounding roughly like "in-day". It resembles Diné in closely related Navajo and similar words in other Athabaskan languages. It's not a big leap from there to "Indian".

  4. Legalized gambling... Yay! by Lucas123 · · Score: 2

    Government sanctioned gambling -- the ultimate tax on the poor, who have such high hopes that by throwing what little money they have at high-risk lotteries, casinos and now online gambling, they can someday see all their financial troubles vanish in the blink of an eye.

    The great thing about lotteries and casinos is that the government can capture significant revenue from the poor and lower middle class without having to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for stuff like, you know, schools and roads.

    It's an awesome scheme to keep the wealthy in good standing while sucking the last ounce of blood like a vampire from those who can least afford to lose a drop.

  5. No Credit Cards, no online gambling by Ghostworks · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Even if they try to do a legal run around based on tribal sovereignty, the simple fact remains that it's against Federal law for credit card companies to do business with casinos. This is what originally killed the American online gambling industry. (And while I think that basic goal was short sighted, it is what it is.)

    Credit card companies care a lot more about pissing off the Feds than they do about doing business with what they admit is a shady, untested casino scheme. The money is good, I'm sure, but the legal theory would have to be rock-solid to convince them that they're not going to just burn through it all in legal fees and penalties.

    It would actually be easier to go to President Trump -- literally the most sympathetic possible person for this cause -- and bitch about how all those casino dollars are going off-shore to GoldenPalace.com, and get him to put a pet bill through a Republican-controlled Congress.

  6. Digital Pachinko by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    that's basically how Japan does gambling. You play Pachinko to gamble. You get little balls that you trade in for stuffed animals and such and there just happens to be a shop across the street that buys said stuffed animals for exorbitant prices. People are doing this with video game skins too. The only question is will the government (at the behest of Las Vegas) start cracking down on bitcoin & crypto currency.

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  7. Re:Misread title... by omnichad · · Score: 2

    You're not wrong. The other Monster might want to sue for Trademark infringement if Monster starts offering money-making opportunities on the Internet.