Group Pushing Online Poker: “It Won’t Hurt Lottery”

LAS VEGAS (Associated Press) - A casino-backed group pushing for federal legislation to make online poker explicitly legal says regulating online card play nationwide won't hurt state lotteries.

Fair Play USA planned to release an analysis on Tuesday that shows no correlation between spikes and dips in the online poker market with play in state lotteries.

The analysis is in response to a report from a rival group that wants state lotteries to be responsible for regulating and taxing Internet gambling if it's ever legalized.

Backers of federal regulation of online poker say the Internet is a medium where gambling requires federal oversight rather than a patchwork of state laws.

The Public Gaming Research Institute, which opposes federal regulation of Internet gambling, says states would lose $1.4 billion in funding if online poker is allowed.