Internet gambling grows

Nevada gambling regulators on Thursday voted to allow the world's largest casino company to do business with a Gibraltar company that offers online wagering, marking the first time state officials have blessed a tie to internet gambling despite the industry's murky legal status.
The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the relationship between Caesars Entertainment and 888 Holdings, which runs online casinos in the United Kingdom and is publicly traded on the London stock exchange.
The approval came the same day as Nevada lawmakers in Carson City held an initial hearing on a bill that would legalise internet poker statewide - a bill pushed by a top poker website and opposed by top gambling companies including Caesars, which wants federal legislation instead.
"Whether this bill passes or not, there's going to be pressure on this board and this commission to authorise internet gaming," Commissioner Randolph Townsend told a Caesars executive just before joining others in unanimous approval of the business tie.
"This is the first of perhaps many relationships that will be developed over time," Townsend said near the end of the two-hour hearing.
The tie allows Caesars, which owns more than 50 casinos in several countries - including Caesars Palace and the annual World Series of Poker - to work with 888 to run online gambling sites in the UK, and free-money sites in other jurisdictions using Caesars brands. Caesars has been considering online gambling for years, and is positioning itself to be ready in case lawmakers eventually make online gambling legal in the United States.
"The UK is not the end of our plan or our vision," said Mitch Garber, chief executive of Caesars subsidiary Caesars Interactive Entertainment.
888 stopped offering online wagers in the United States after a federal law in 2006 made it illegal.
Gigi Levy, chief executive of 888, said worldwide online gambling revenue was expected to be $24.2 billion in 2011 and to reach $26.1 billion in 2012. He said sports wagering accounted for 41 per cent of that, casino games 23 per cent and poker 19 per cent.
"We have been lobbying and are in favour of legalised and taxable online gaming," Garber said. "We see this all as a very positive development for online gaming and we intend to be at the forefront of all these developments."