GUEST
Frank Fahrenkopf, President/CEO, American Gaming Association
Andrew Gellatly, Editorial Director, Gambling Compliance
BY MARIE ANDRUSEWICZ -- As Caesar’s and Treasure Islandjoin Ultimate Poker in the online gambling arena, is there profit to be made online? And if so, is it at the cost of brick-and-mortar casinos?
Frank Farenkopf of the American Gaming Association says that with Nevada among the first to legalize online poker, so far there aren’t enough gamblers to make online activity profitable.
“That’s why the legislature passed additional rules to allow the government interstate compacts,” says Farenkopf.
The good news for casino operators is, according to a study by the American Gaming Association, these online arms of the poker industry aren’t likely to pull players away from casinos.
“If you look at the demographics of that time of who was playing online poker, it was men, young men, men with higher than normal education and higher than the average general income. People who did not have a history of on a regular basis going to casinos,” says Farenkopf.
The online gambling industry in Europe bears this out. There are 15 European countries where online gaming is legal and commercially-owned casinos can apply for a license.
“The future of both online and land-based companies have both risen since the introduction of online gambling,” says Andrew Gellatly, Editorial Director of Gambling Compliance.