Bloomberg – In a victory for fun, liberty and sound fiscal policy, New Jersey will tomorrow let most of its residents gamble online. All Americans should be so (dare we say it?) lucky. New Jersey is the third state, after Delaware and Nevada, to permit online gambling within its borders, and a dozen or so others will consider doing so next year. By 2023, according to a forecast by Bloomberg Industries, annual online gambling revenue could reach $23 billion nationwide. In a just world, it would be legal nationwide, too. Practical problems abound with a state-by-state approach. For one thing,…

From Las Vegas Review-Journal – Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said Tuesday she wants a House of Representatives committee to hold a hearing on the current state-by-state expansion of Internet gaming. In a letter to both the chairman and the ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Titus said Congress needs to move quickly because Internet gaming is moving forward in several states, including Nevada. “Previous efforts in Congress to create a national legal framework for Internet gaming have failed and states have moved ahead of Congress to develop these laws and accompanying regulations,” Titus wrote. Nevada has…

Online gambling is back before Congress, and some are betting it will move forward this time. Congress has swung into action this year after moves by states to set up their own Internet wagering systems. At least two bills to regulate Internet gambling have been introduced in the House of Representatives, and a Senate committee has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday on the matter. After years of treating online gambling as criminal, the US government quietly shifted its stand in late 2011 when the Justice Department released an opinion stating that only sports betting should be prohibited under a 1961…

The increased push by legislators for legal U.S. online gambling could help the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda in its long-running World Trade Organization dispute. Antigua filed a complaint with the WTO against the United States in 2003 for violations of its commitments under the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) in not allowing it to provide online gaming services to players based in America. In a subsequent ruling, the international organization found in the Caribbean nation’s favor but the dispute lingers with Antigua claiming that it is owed $3.4bn per year in damages for being denied…

From Wall Street Journal Online casino gambling has become a potentially big player in the U.S., with three states passing—and others considering—laws allowing some form of it. The only problem: how should regulators deal with firms that have come under scrutiny or operate in so-called gray markets? 888 Holdings Based in Gibraltar but owned in large part by its Israeli founders, 888 has big ambitions in the U.S. with partnership deals already with casino companies and a slot machines maker. With backing from investment firm Avenue Capital Group, it plans to spend more than $100 million to market its own…