LITTLE THAT IS NEW IN FLORIDA REPORT (Update)
27 November 2009
Questionable conclusion on compulsive
gambling
The study ordered by the Florida legislature to inform
its decisions on the legalisation of online poker was
delivered to the legislature by the state's Office of
Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
last week (see previous InfoPowa report) and is expected
to be presented to the state Senate by the end of
November. Perhaps inevitably, it appeared this week that
some of the contents had been leaked.
Running to
12 pages, the report makes the unsurprising finding that
the state's lawmakers are faced with three choices: do
nothing and await federal level legalisation; pass a law
expressly banning online poker, or take the initiative
and pass laws to legalise it in the state of Florida.
The report examines the implications of each course
of action, commenting that the federal option is
unlikely to establish the additional consumer protection
that Florida might wish for, and that there are
uncertainties over whether a legalisative attempt at
federal level would be successful anyway.
Actively prohibiting online poker, on the other hand,
was fraught with difficulties regarding effective
enforcement but could ameliorate the dangers of
compulsive gambling. Here the impartiality of the study
slips to some extent, quoting unidentified 'opponents of
gambling expansion' as claiming that Internet gambling
addiction rates are 'three to four times higher' than
conventional offline gambling. This claim is highly
arguable with well documented scientific studies by
respected institutions, yet this does not appear to have
been explored in greater depth.
The third choice
- legalising online poker at state level - offers the
advantage of more closely meeting Florida's regulatory
wishes, and the possibility of raising tax revenues.
However, in this area too the study reaches some
puzzling conclusions, commenting that ‘expanding
authorized gambling in the state to include Internet
gambling could generate revenue', but noting that 'at
this time no objective estimates exist to assess
potential state revenues.’ This flies in the face of an
estimate of $90 million a year in tax income which was
submitted to the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
Government Accountability recently by the Poker Voters
of America after being independently assessed by the H2
Consultancy.
Much of the report deals with the
present laws governing online gambling at federal and
state level, noting that although there are federal
claims that it is illegal throughout the United States
through the outdated Wire Act, Florida state law
'...does not expressly prohibit Internet Gambling.'
However, it notes that in the opinion of the Florida
state Attorney General '...the Wire Act provisions, in
combination with state law, prohibit an individual from
placing a bet or wager by wire communication or via the
Internet.’
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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