Unless you have several million dollars in the bank (with at least two in reserve), I would seriously discourage you from trying a start-up operation.
Reasons:
1. Too competitive. You will never get players unless you plan on purchasing someone's database. Even then, nothing is guaranteed.
2. You won't be able to pay some of your bigger winners promptly. Speak with some of the newer operators. They'll tell you that you will operate
in the red for several months before seeing a profit.
3. $20,000 is enough dough to purchase a casino that will just piss everyone off. And like kwblue implied, you'll be rogue-ified in a New York minute -- and that's no fun.
My suggestion would be to look into a white label operation. Which is like being a superaffiliate. You'll have the same marketing problems, but your payments and customer support are taken care of.