4-4-05 - North Dakota and The Regulation of Online Poker: What Went Wrong

In an effort to keep you on the edge of the latest events and to provide you with the best of insights, SportsCrew.com has approached an icon of the e-gaming industry and we have asked him about his personal involvement in the North Dakota initiative.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) April 4, 2005 -- The recently abrupt termination of the Legislature's dalliance with Internet poker regulation in the state of North Dakota left a lot of unanswered questions. The proposed bill was looking to make North Dakota the first state to license online poker rooms and it would have allowed internet poker sites to become licensed in the US for the first time.

“It was a very significant progress for the online gaming and poker industry; one that had no precedents of any kind,” says Will Gatten, SportsCrew.com Senior Analyst. “The fact alone that there were various representatives of online poker rooms out there talking to US Senators speaks volumes of what the internet poker industry has become.”

In a cutting-edge interview posed by Will Gatten and regarding the discussion of this bill before U.S. Senators in the state of North Dakota, Nigel Payne –CEO of Sportingbet PLC (LSE: SBT)- says: “Over the past year we have managed to help people understand that the concerns held are definitely better managed under a regulated environment. What it is about now is politics. Who will be brave enough to stand up and say this to the American people? And in North Dakota, it seems they are not yet ready.”

As figures like Nigel Payne fight to elevate this issue from a political strife into a rational discussion, not every involved party feels the need to bring legitimate arguments to the table. When asked about the people that opposed the bill, Nigel Payne said: “Countless people testified against the Bill with one message ‘Gambling is evil'. Yes, they were in the main from the Church and from Family Groups but their views were very strongly felt and we need to respect that”; he continued to say, “During the debate one of the Senators asked the Church this (question) : Sir, I agree with you. I do not like gambling. But let me ask you, Mr. Payne here is arguing, quite convincingly, that the reasons why I do not like gambling can be properly managed with today's technology. How, if we do not regulate this Bill, can you do it?' The Church answered: We do not know?”

It is believed that by 2008, online poker will have reported a total turnover of over $250 Billion and that mark might be pushed up to $275 Billion by 2012. At the same time an estimated 40 million to 50 million Americans play non-Internet Poker recreationally and there will be a time in the near future when a large majority of this group will go online to play poker.

Nigel Payne -as well as other prominent personalities of the online gaming industry- has the firm conviction that this industry needs regulation; in a remarkable statement he said: “...regulation could control children gambling, could minimize excessive gambling etc. Moreover, the industry argued (before the N.D. Senate) that it could not in reality be stopped and that the ONLY way to control these things was through regulation”.

Make your next click to http://www.sportscrew.com/review/payne.php and read this interest interview with one of the most prominent and brilliant figures on the online gaming and poker industry.

About Will Gatten SportsCrew.com Senior Analyst:
Once the Marketing Director of a major sportsbook and of the most respected young figures in the offshore gambling world, Will joined SportsCrew.com after having resigned to his General Manager position with Sportsbookreview.com. He now uses his knowledge of this industry and his understanding of business models to help players make an educated decision when choosing a betting outfit. Will shares his vast experience on the online gaming industry in his articles and in our sportsbooks reviews section.

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