Online poker too big a gamble

The Gazette Editorial Board

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Legal gambling is well established in Iowa and has produced some substantial community and state economic and infrastructure benefits.

But proposals to legalize and regulate online poker within the state aren't worth the projected extra revenue.

Legalized online poker is not only unlikely to reign in illegal play, it likely would increase the risk for gambling addiction. Iowa legislators should make a statement and draw the line: Online poker is not the type of gamble this state wants to make.

Proponents of legalizing online poker are back in the Statehouse again, urging legislators to enact regulations that would allow state-licensed casinos to offer poker games that adults could access, and bet on, over computers, smartphones or any Internet-enabled device.

They argue legalizing online poker would put Iowa on the cutting edge of an evolving gaming industry. Only Nevada and Washington, D.C., allow the practice.

Proponents say that legalizing and regulating online poker would capture the attention - and the money - of thousands of Iowans who already play the games online illegally.

But we're not convinced that a tightly run state system of online gaming would lure mostly young online poker fans from illegal offshore websites where house rules are looser.

The potential financial impact is not insignificant. An Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission Study on Intrastate Online Gambling estimated that legalized online poker could bring in $13 million to $60 million each year, and generate $3 million to $13 million per year in new tax revenue.

But this is one case where we expect the potential costs to outweigh the financial benefits.

Creating a state-controlled intrastate Internet poker network would do more than add another option to the state's ever-growing list of gaming activities. It would transform the gaming landscape - making betting available at virtually any time, from anywhere.

It almost certainly would encourage more Iowans to gamble, and encourage those Iowans who already gamble to do so more frequently, leading to a corresponding increase in the number of problem gamblers - with all the corresponding social and financial problems that go hand-in-hand with problem gambling,

Data still is scarce, but many researchers believe the ease, affordability, anonymity and accessibility of online gaming make it more addictive than casino gaming.

Until we know more about the risks and effects of online gaming, it makes little sense to jump headlong into the activity.

We don't buy arguments that liken prohibiting online poker to sending jobs and profits out of the state - an argument one could make for a host of other illegal activities.

“They'll do it anyway, so we might as well tax it,” isn't justification enough for such a major shift in public policy.

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