Gambling on Internet

Amazing thing has happened - three mathematics graduate turned down a 40,000 dollars a year banking job, saying they could earn more money playing internet poker according to 123bharath.com.
In a series of recent summit meetings, a panel of experts agreed that although consumers will have to wait for regulation of US Anti-Gambling Law, online gambling is here to stay.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended a pause in the thriving business of gambling. With this, the question now turns to whether we outlaw gambling or regulate it. Perhaps we can learn from history that whenever a prohibition is around, the worse the situation gets.

It all started when gambling was legalized and then when we began examining the foundation of our drive to gamble. Some individuals believe that gambling or playing any game of chance (lottery, bingo or casino) is our right to peaceably dispose our goods. Others are convinced that gambling is largely the cause of personal corruption. Both have good points.

So given these two arguments, what we can do with gambling for now is not total stoppage or support but regulation and control. We should contain it to reduce moral risks. This is what exactly what the 104th Congress did in 1997 when it established NGISC (National Gambling Impact Study Commission), of which its objective was to conduct a thorough research on the social and economic bearings of gambling in the U.S.. With this, in 1999, the commission recommended a pause in expanding the gambling business nationwide.

The burning question is how would lawmakers respond to the adverse effects of gambling. They can't make gambling illegal. They can't make gambling continue on its destructive path either. So what should be done? The easiest way is to contain it and/or put a strict regulation around it. That's exactly what they're doing right now.

Would the proposed government measures toward gambling really remedy the situation? Well, let's look at history first to see if strict regulation codes do work. Back in 1909, a law was passed that prohibited all forms of gambling in Nevada, which resulted to lost of government revenues from licensing, corruption, and the spread of illegal gambling.

Bribes became common and looked as if they were the licenses. While in New York, lawmakers in 1960s passed a series of anti-gambling laws. The plan was to facilitate convictions and increase penalties. The result, however, organized crime developed further and, once again, gambling and police bribes thrived and very few convictions were passed.

By some reason, when government intervenes, gambling gets worse. So when Nevada finally re-legalized gambling in 1930s, gambling industry worked through corporate business ethics and customer honesty. The way we should treat compulsive gambling is not by coercive regulation but by voluntary action. In the same way that we shouldn't send a cop to treat compulsive gamblers, instead compulsive gamblers send themselves to professional counselors for treatment.