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In a report filed by Grace Schneider of the Louisville Courier it was revealed that both Kentucky and Indiana may be interested in legalizing online gambling, albeit she notes, it won’t be any time soon.
“Our job right now is to look at what the options can be,” said Arch Gleason, the Kentucky Lottery’s president.
Kentucky ironically is the same state that in 2008 attempted to seize more than 150 Internet gambling related domain names. The industry fought hard to prevent this by sending an army of attorneys to take on Governor Steve Beshear’s out-of-state legal team.
The US Justice Department reversed its stance on Internet poker late last year, saying it would no longer apply The Wire Act to virtual card rooms. This opinion has resulted in nearly a dozen states enacting measures to move forward with the legalization of online poker.
On Tuesday, the US Attorney’s Office in Maryland went out of its way to stress gambling-related charges against online gambling powerhouse Bodog.com related exclusively to the company’s acceptance of sports wagers over a multi-year period despite its operation of a long established Web poker network.
In both Kentucky and Indiana, obstacles stand in the way of any immediate plans to legalize Web gambling.
Schneider notes that, in Kentucky, a constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling was defeated in the Senate, making it less likely online casino gambling would be approved any time soon.
Brian Wilkerson, a spokesman for House Speaker Greg Stumbo, said no new legislation is likely to be proposed this year because of the casino bill.
In Indiana, Hoosier Lottery officials are reviewing the state’s laws and “getting up to speed” on the Justice Department ruling, spokesman Al Larsen said.
Local interests in Kentucky are already making significant moves. Churchill Downs owns TwinSpires.com, which already takes wagers on horses from all but around a dozen “opt-out” states. The company this month purchased Bluff Media, one of the largest providers of poker news.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
