In the news recently I have seen a lot of articles flooding the feeds.
Make no mistake these articles are being written, ad worded and produced by government officials who are aching to collect “tax” on any player winnings that occur in your state or area. (The government has a lot of slush fund for passing laws like this) The NBA has already stated that if the government open sports wagering nationwide they want 1% of all revenue. If the NBA gets this granted you can be sure the NFL, MLB, and NHL will be sure to follow. Who does this hurt? Who does it help? who is the one who wins the most?
Well lets start with who it hurts. The post up shops that operate in international arenas will face difficulty in competing the average Joe player who just wants an out for his favorite team. Transaction fees already eat into the winnings these individuals receive in the long run. However, it will enable the deposits to be directed toward bank accounts which will alleviate much of issue with MG/WU ETC.
Who it helps? All the major casinos already established in Vegas first, and then secondly will be the politicians. The amount of new “watchdog” spending, new SEC department chairs will increase greatly. The IRS will get involved, I mean.. when is that ever good? Democrats will get their dream of being able to sit and monitor every action of all the players who wager legally.
The U.S. is not the first country to try and regulate the gaming industry, for example Europe has been trying to maintain a strong grip on the taxation of gaming. It has been a rough go, and that is strictly due to greed of the fat cats. On top of bookies rightfully running a 10% juice, the government wants another 15-20 percent on top of every win. On the other side of that when the books win, they have to pay that 10-15% in gambling tax to the government.
Who wins the most? Not the player and not the book, you guessed it, The state level politicians who make deals for prime real estate for new casinos and sports books. The biggest issue that the government will face in putting this together is keeping the local players interested in only keeping like 70-80% of their winnings. It is already hard enough to win as it is.
I know if I were a local player and I could still meet up with “Red” my local bookie and not pay garbage gaming tax, I would take the risk. The pay per head industry will remain prominent for the not average Joe player. The guy who actually takes his gaming seriously will still want a credit line, and still want to be free from the grips of Uncle Sam and his goons.