The Chief Executive for the American Gaming Association told the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas that time is running out for online poker legislation to be passed in Congress for the current year.
Speaking to a crowd of industry insiders, AGA Chief Executive Frank Fahrenkopf said that online gambling is "the next frontier of our business" and claiming that billions of dollars are at stake with online poker legislation.
Fahrenkopf said that swift work would be needed if the current Reid-Kyl online gambling bill were to be passed through in a lame duck session of Congress after the November elections. "We will need plenty of hard work and a little gambler's luck to see a federal bill pass this year." the executive told the crowd.
Continuing his speech, Fahrenkopf pointed out that 85 countries have passed online gambling, and that nearly $35 billion is being bet each year through the internet, including millions of dollars by U.S. punters.
Going forward, Fahrenkopf said that the AGA will continue to lobby U.S. politicians to make online poker a legal activity, and said that "No matter what Congress does, based on the growth trends ... and the actions of the various states, it's no longer a matter of if online gambling will be legalized in the U.S., but when, where and how."