Casino owners and manufacturers of gambling machines announced that they are considering to join forces with the states’ governments in order to restrain illegal gambling on the territory of the USA.
Currently, there are almost 1,000 casinos that operate under a license on the territory of the country.
The President of the American Gaming Association – Greoff Freeman – requested the state legal leaders to start working in collaboration with his group at a meeting with the National Association of Attorneys General that took place in Biloxi, Mississippi. President Freeman expressed his belief that they all share a mutual interest in putting a stop to illegal gambling once and for all.
Mr. Freeman explained that he insists on making a more evident difference between the legal and illegal gambling activities in the states. He finds that making such a distinction is absolutely necessary in a business that is not only heavily regulated but also constantly growing.
According to Mr. Freeman, illegal gambling within the country is currently draining large amounts of money from casinos that already have a license to operate. He also stated that the states should pay attention and do everything possible in order to put an end to illegal gambling operations, because such activities do not pay taxes to the American country.
The latter are also not subjected to any regulation of the competent authorities, which means they could expose their customers to risk. In addition, other criminal operations could be funded by using these operations.
The American Gaming Association has been currently focused on making requests on the states to try and put an end to criminal and illegitimate gaming operations, including illegal sports betting, as well as gambling websites hosted overseas, slot machines offered at the black market and sweepstakes cafés.
According to the Association’s President, the illegal sports betting business in the US is estimated to a total of $150 billion on a yearly basis. The rest of the gambling methods mentioned above manage to account for billions more in their activity. In comparison, the annual revenue generated by the legal casinos in the US amounts to about $240 billion.
Mr. Freeman stated that the country and its states in particular should back legal casinos due to the fact the latter are responsible for generating great part of tax money. Illegal gambling activities, on the other hand, not only compete with the authorized ones, but also take money away from them.
