Online Gambling’s Coming, Says Caesars Chief

And we’ll be able to play online legally very soon

Optimism regarding the legalization of online gambling in the US does not seem to leave Caesars Entertainment chief exec Gary Loveman, who this week reiterated his support for the legalization, expressing belief that online poker will soon become legal, with several states moving towards it.

Speaking about it, he said: "I can say with tremendous confidence that people will be able to play online legally in the United States in many places very soon."

He also complained about the anomalies in US legislation that have created a situation where financial transactions with offshore operators are illegal and investigated by law enforcement but on the other hand, in almost all states players are not committing an illegal act and are not prosecuted.

"Today we have this bizarre situation where it is legal for an American to play online poker for money using a game that is provided by an illegal offshore entity," he said. "I think it is very hard to imagine why we would allow Americans to buy a service that no American company can [legally] offer."

Loveman also opined that if the federal government decided to allow online poker, it would be able to regulate the activity and benefit from the substantial tax revenues, estimating that if it becomes federally regulated, it could bring in $6 billion to $8 billion a year, and that it is done state-by-state, the revenue would be $2 billion to $3 billion to start.

The federal government would get about 15 percent of that revenue if it regulated online poker, Loveman added.

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