New Jersey had us all excited for nothing, Iowa wasn’t ready, Nevada raised our eyebrows and while we were still waiting on Florida and California to get their act together and regulate online gambling, Boom! Like the Kenyan marathon runner, the District of Columbia reeled them all in and passed everyone by officially becoming the first U.S jurisdiction to allow Internet gambling.
We had reported earlier that the terms of last year’s city budget, allowed DC’s lottery operator to offer online poker and fantasy sports to district residents and there was also a provision permitting D.C. to offer online gaming within its borders included in the 2011 budget.
Somehow the expiry period for Congress to object to the measure expired last week. It’s a little strange how they missed such a thing, maybe they had bigger things to attend to like building their case against Roger Clemens. Who knows and who cares? The important thing is that online gambling has a permanent residence in D.C.
The AP and Daily Reporter reported that D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown hoped the revenue the district takes in will help offset cuts to social services programs. Conservative estimates from D.C.’s chief financial officer place the total haul to be in the ballpark of $13 million over the next four years.
It might not be time just yet to throw the celebration shaker, but feel free to raise your glasses, the first domino has been tipped and it started in the capital.
Stay tuned as CalvinAyre.com will be providing continued coverage and analysis on this breaking news.
