MISSISSIPPI: Online gaming OK, but not here

[clevfan]

August 22, 2002

Online gaming OK, but not here


By Nell Luter Floyd
nfloyd@clarionledger.com

Len Blackwell wanted to make one thing clear at Wednesday's meeting of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

"We're not approving Internet gaming in Mississippi in any shape, form or fashion," said Blackwell of Gulfport, a chairman of the commission. "Internet gaming is illegal in Mississippi and the United States."

Blackwell's comments came after officials with MGM Mirage Online explained their plans to launch an online gaming site on the Isle of Man next month.

The commission, which requires any casino it licenses to seek a waiver when it establishes a business outside Mississippi, granted the company a waiver for involvement in foreign gaming, so it can launch the site next month. The waiver will come up for renewal annually and could be revoked at any time if the commission determines the need to do so.

Bill Hornbuckle, president and chief operating officer for MGM Mirage Online, assured members of the the commission that the company has taken steps to make it impossible for players in the United States to gamble on its site and for anyone to hack into it. "We believe we've done everything we can to prevent that," he said.

He said the company will have systems to verify a player's identity and financial resources and player protection components so that a player can limit how long he plays and the maximum amount of money he plays. The site will include links to information about a program similar to Gamblers Anonymous and links to MGM Mirage properties, including Beau Rivage resort and casino in Biloxi.

Internet gaming is legal in about 40 countries, Hornbuckle said, noting the MGM Mirage site will be launched in 12 of those.

MGM Mirage chose the Isle of Man because its tax structure is favorable and its infrastructure is, too, since it is a banking center for western Europe, Hornbuckle said. The Isle of Man has rigorous licensing and requires MGM Mirage have a $3 million bonding mechanism in place, he said.

Estimates place online gaming as a $2 billion worldwide market, and MGM Mirage hopes to gain 20 percent of it, Hornbuckle said. He said there are 1,900 online operators but few sites are as controlled and regulated as the site MGM Mirage will launch.

Blackwell said he has confidence in MGM Mirage and what the company has at stake with its launch of the site, but he's leery of Internet gaming.

"It's not the kind of activity that's convivial, that's public," he said. "As one wise person told me, 'Our secrets can kill us.' "

Victor P. Smith, a metro area businessman and gaming commissioner, said online gaming concerns him, especially because of its accessibility by compulsive gamblers. "Somebody by himself holed up gambling could get into trouble," he said.

[GottaWinToday]

WHEN IT COMES TO GAMBLING, (ONLY GAMBLING NOW) OUR GOVERNMENT IS NUTS. I'm a proud American and would do anything for my country but when it comes to gambling OUR GOVERNMENT BOTH STATE AND FED ARE NUTS.

I have to bet an outside book. If the USA would let me just make my square bets and tax the hell out of them WE WOULD BOTH BE HAPPY AND THE MONEY WOULD STAY HOME.

But NO, the USA wants you to bet AT HOME only on these OTHER ventures like THE LOTTO. I heard on TV the other day that the lotto (some Ball sh(t) is 81,000,000 to 1. Yeah, it's OK, please bet and give money, but if I bet offshore, sh(t, I'm scum. It's the ONLY thing I have a gripe with...........

Canbet, Olympic, Pinnacle, here I come. I'm a square so maybe I will survive.......

Sorry for the rant......

GottaWinToday

[Butch]

Two billion a year seems way low to me.

[scott]

[scott]

I sincerely doubt they will be dealing sports.