Sports Betting Forum: Unity is Best Lesson for Online Gambling in Texas Gaming Debate

Sports Betting Forum: Unity is Best Lesson for Online Gambling in Texas Gaming Debate

By Carter Randel
Legal US Online Casino News

The evolving gaming laws across the U.S. have led to disputes as to what gambling will be permitted, what regulations will be imposed, and what shall remain illegal. As online casino gambling prepares to undergo examination by the U.S. Congress in coming months, the proponents of gambling in all forms could learn a lesson from the spreading chaos in Texas.

Despite the odds of Texas allowing any legal gambling having been astronomical mere months ago, the supporters of various gaming institutions are letting greed turn them against each other, drastically reducing the chance of any gambling law change in the state. An article in the American-Statesman describes slot advocates and casino supporters screaming at each other and calling each other names.

Over 250 lobbyists have registered to weigh in on the Texas legislation. Representatives of tribal interests, horse tracks, casino developers, dog tracks, and local interests looking for funding are each looking for their own bill, leaving the others in the cold while their clients enjoy the riches a gaming monopoly bestows. Each is as keen to crush the others' hopes as to push through the benefits for those they represent.

"Sometimes the lobbyists get in the way of progress," said Mike Lavigne, a spokesman for horse and dog track owners, in the understatement of the year.

Jose Menendez, a state Representative from San Antonio who was one of the first to broach the possibility of legalized Texas gaming, said, "We're not going to have anything if we keep fighting."

While it remains to be seen what the result of the Texas scrum will be, online casino and Internet gambling interests should learn a key lesson from the Lone Star State. Gaming advocates cannot let self-interest divide them from bringing the freedom of choice to US citizens.

Civil libertarian Paul Hopper said, "Poker interest must support casino operators, and online sports books need to ally with Internet bingo companies. If each tries to shut out the other, the disorganized majority will be defeated by the disciplined, single-minded minority, the radical religious groups that oppose all gambling.

"While every operator wishes to earn a profit, ultimately it must be the free marketplace and the choice of individuals that decide which gaming companies do best. To seek the law to block gambling competition invites the same legal quandry in which the US currently finds itself."

Hopper's statement rings true, especially in view of consistent moves by the Poker Players Alliance to distance itself, and its game, from casino gambling. The only true freedom, Hopper reminds us, is absolute freedom; everything else is just a bigger cage.

Sports Betting Forum: Unity is Best Lesson for Online Gambling in Texas Gaming Debate