Washington DC and 21 other states mulling internet gambling operations

Speaking to the newspaper USA Today on Thursday, American Gaming Association chief Frank Fahrenkopf said that 21 individual US states, along with Washington DC, are considering online lottery sales or other wagering such as internet poker.

Illinois becomes the first state to go online with lottery ticket sales this Sunday New York and several other states sell lottery subscriptions to residents online but not individual tickets.

Fahrenkopf hopes Congress will set standards to protect online customers from fraud and ensure they are adults, he told the newspaper.

Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones says online sales could attract 1 million new players when MegaMillion payouts exceed $100 million, increasing proceeds that go to public education. Only 9 to 12 percent of Illinois adults play now, he says.

Starting at 7 a.m. CT Sunday, visitors to illinoislottery.com will be asked to register and enter credit card and Social Security numbers, date of birth, name and address. Sophisticated software will ensure that only Illinois residents 18 and older play, Jones says. Purchases will be limited to $100 a day.

Professor I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor and expert of internet gambling, told the newspaper that the federal policy change on the Wire Act was “…a gift of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to any state that wants to do this.

“In less than 10 years, we’re going to see most of the states moving to Internet gambling,” he predicted.