A New State Considers Online Gambling

By this point, we know the whole song and dance. We know that while other countries are making sweeping changes to their stance on online gambling, we’re going state by state. Three states have legalized it, and many more are considering it. We can now throw another state into that pile.

West Virginia is the latest state to consider legalizing online gambling. It’s extremely important to note that this comes at a time when opposition is mounting against online gambling, so it’s especially significant that they’re choosing now to support online gambling.

West Virginia isn’t a large state by any means. In fact, their population remains at a little under two million. Legalizing online gambling in West Virginia wouldn’t make a huge change to the overall picture, but if sites run no deposit promotions and get a ton of people playing, it’ll dramatically increase the state’s revenue, which could cause other states to reconsider their stance.

The issue feels a bit rushed, so hopefully that means it’s on the fast track to legalization. The state’s lottery directors met with casino firms in July to discuss the possibility of having infrastate online gambling in the future. The meeting is scheduled for late October.

But why are they considering it? Why now? The decision is twofold. For starters, they obviously want more money. Who couldn’t use more money? Some states are hurting, and I can imagine West Virginia being one of them. Legalizing online gambling would pump some much needed revenue into their economy. They also feel that this is the direction the industry is heading, so they want to stay ahead of the curve.

As we mentioned last week, Sheldon Adelson has been mounting his opposition to online gambling in various ways, including recruiting Texas Governor Rick Perry. Perry was indicted on several charges a few weeks ago, which dramatically hurts his chance at a presidential run. That very indictment could’ve changed the entire landscape of online gambling. Perry had said that if he was elected, he planned to stop the progress that many people had worked so hard to make in regards to the legalization of online gambling.

If legalized, West Virginia will become the fourth state in the nation to have legalized online gambling. The other three are, of course, Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. Pennsylvania and California are on the edge, with the latter expected to make a decision early next year.

This can only infuriate Adelson. The more money he throws at this issue, the more people become aware and support it, as they should. Online gambling is a great way to increase a state’s revenue, and those that support it are either trying to protect their own personal investments, or they just don’t understand it.