Five Years From Now

[Simmo!]

This whole last week has made a lot of people think. There have been conspiracy theories, positive takes and negative takes on the whole charade, but now the dust is starting to settle, I thought it might be interesting to have a thread that we can revisit in 3 or 5 years (or longer!) from now, with how people "foresaw" the future of online gambling.

Here's my thoughts to get the ball rolling. As you'd expect from me, it's a positive outlook, some might even say "rose-tinted" - lol. But hey, I'm not going to apologise for being an optimist and in 5 years time, if needs be, I'll stand up and be counted

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1. The current "Unlawful blah" Act will largely be viewed eventually as ineffective on it's own until HR4411 passes. In fact if anything, it will work as much FOR the industry as against it in so much as it has woken everyone up, and lots of future planning will be going on to minimise the impact of future legislation here and around the world. Software companies that are PLC will have lost clients to non-PLC providers which could turn out to be beneficial to the industry and the effects on online gambling will be seen to have been minimal. US companies will have lost $millions in advertising revenue from the industry.

2. HR4411 got signed in as law and ISPs started to block access to gambling sites which caused panic, consternation and uproar for some time. However, a successfull legal challenge largely halted progress. European ISP's started offering satellite services to US residents and alternative offshore payment processors sprung up, which despite some high-profile cases bought by the DoJ, made the law too hard and costly to police. It was brushed into the background having only partly achieved it's aim. Anonymizers moved into the gambling industry and implemented third party credit processors. Antigua and Costa Rica allowed US citizens to open offshore bank accounts with minimum fuss.

3. Casino operators, having seen the downside to being, or licensing from, a publically traded company, become reluctant to go public as it puts control of the operation (and company value) largely in the hands of people who don't know enough about the industry. I think we'll see less public offerings in the sector in the coming years now.

4. The US will have introduced limited regulation into the industry to water down HR4411 and to try and capitalise on the $billions of revenue and to assist the B&M's. It won't be seen so much as an "about turn" as a willingless to accept online gambling cannot be totally prohibited and has advantages to the US treasury.

5. The B&M casinos will have started to come online, feeling that the legislation has paved the way for a smoother passage with less competition. However, they will be reliant on using existing online infrastructure, marketing ideas and 3rd party gaming companies to compete with the offshore companies and indeed, themselves.

6. A lot of the casinos will have diversified into new markets and while the US will continue to account for a large share, it will no longer be the make-or-break share that it had been in the past.

7. The "hub" of online gaming will be the UK due to pro-gambling laws and a willingness to embrace and regulate. Britain's ties with the US will have some sway in determining US gambling policy. 50 anti-tank guns + 50 troops per US casino licence, "unofficially" of course!

8. Crystal Palace will be offering "buy $100, get $10,000 free". Sign-up bonuses will still be the major cause of complaints!
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Cheers

Simmo!

[suzecat]

Five years from now I will be 5 years older. My cramped arthritic fingers will be clutched to the mouse as I give VP another shot at me. Oh and Vegas will still be a pleasant drive from Trona.

[amatrine]

"8. Crystal Palace will be offering "buy $100, get $10,000 free". Sign-up bonuses will still be the major cause of complaints"

LOL

Amatrine

[Slotster!]

The US bill spreads to the rest of the world, and the Casinomeister re-brands himself as "Viagrameister.com", offering links to accredited online 'pharmacies' and personal enlargement pills. Meanwhile, Jon Steed, finally convinces US congress to pass the law that all websites from here on are presented in "STEEDVISION" The revolutionary multicoloured website font of tomorrow (TM)

Robwin, having taken down 80% of Las Vegas based casino's makes an agreement with Steve Wynn to re-brand his namesake hotel "WIN'S", in exchange for Rob agreeing to stop emptying all their slots. Part of the deal involves Simmo being allowed to host "DRESS-EXPO" there each year - the celebration of men who are proud to wear dresses in public. Slotster turns up in a lovely gingham-check number and gives his speech on "Why slot machine's are rubbish" to rapturous applause.

Zoozie turns up for the annual mathematicians dinner, and shocks the crowd by announcing "statistics are shit, I'm off down the pub". Meanwhile, KasinoKing places his second $100,000 bet of the day on 'Red' at the roulette table. Black comes in, and KasinoKing comments "Ah, easy come easy go - us high rollers do this sort of thing for fun..." Now where's the buffet?

So, five years on eh?.. Pretty much nothing's changed

[Simmo!]

The US bill spreads to the rest of the world, and the Casinomeister re-brands himself as "Viagrameister.com", offering links to accredited online 'pharmacies' and personal enlargement pills. Meanwhile, Jon Steed, finally convinces US congress to pass the law that all websites from here on are presented in "STEEDVISION" The revolutionary multicoloured website font of tomorrow (TM)

Robwin, having taken down 80% of Las Vegas based casino's makes an agreement with Steve Wynn to re-brand his namesake hotel "WIN'S", in exchange for Rob agreeing to stop emptying all their slots. Part of the deal involves Simmo being allowed to host "DRESS-EXPO" there each year - the celebration of men who are proud to wear dresses in public. Slotster turns up in a lovely gingham-check number and gives his speech on "Why slot machine's are rubbish" to rapturous applause.

Zoozie turns up for the annual mathematicians dinner, and shocks the crowd by announcing "statistics are shit, I'm off down the pub". Meanwhile, KasinoKing places his second $100,000 bet of the day on 'Red' at the roulette table. Black comes in, and KasinoKing comments "Ah, easy come easy go - us high rollers do this sort of thing for fun..." Now where's the buffet?

So, five years on eh?.. Pretty much nothing's changed

LOL. Very good Slotster

[Pinababy69]

Absolutely friggin priceless Slotster!!! I near spewed my coffee everywhere, lol.

Steed Vision? You should patent that!! And a gingham check number? I'd have thought something in a pastel would be more to your liking.

[cheekymonkey]

Five years from now....

1) I still wouldn't have hit a progressive.

2) I will still be chasing 5 scatters on Ladies Nite, Thunderstruck and Tomb Raider.

3) Pinababy will make her 1000000th post.

4) tim5ny might have finally made another post.

5) Slotster! still wouldn't have hit 5 scatters on Ladies Nite.

6) I still wouldn't have hit 5 wilds on Loaded.

7) I would have made 33 vows 'never to gamble online again'.

8) John Steed will be Sir John Steed.

9) VWM will still be driving up and down the M6.

10) KasinoKing gets his first affiliate cheque.