AGA Chief: 21 States And Washington DC Considering Internet Gambling

This story was published more than 12 years ago.

Speaking to USA Today, American Gaming Association Chief Frank Fahrenkopf said that Washington DC and 21 individual states are considering online wagering legalization.

During the interview Fahrenkopf said that he hopes Congress will set standards to protect online punters and make sure that they are of legal age to gamble.

Recently Illinois became the first state to adopt internet sales of lottery tickets. The online lottery sales will go live at 7 AM CST and allow Illinois residents aged 18 and older to wager up to $100 per day on the lottery. Several other states such as New York currently sell online lottery subscriptions.

Michael Jones, the Illinois Lottery Superintendent predicts that online lottery sales could be huge, attracting more than 1 million new players when the Mega Millions jackpot exceeds $100 million. He says that currently only 9-12% of adults in The Prairie State play the lottery.

Also speaking in the story Whittier Law School Professor and internet gambling expert I. Nelson Rose said that the federal government's change of stance on the Wire Act was "...a gift of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to any state that wants to do this."

“In less than 10 years, we're going to see most of the states moving to Internet gambling." he said.