Montana businesses licensed for the state's style of legal gaming--small-time, small-stakes wagering--have plenty of competition from other jurisdictions which allow more liberal risk taking.
Indian tribes in North Dakota, Idaho and Washington--and apparently soon to be Wyoming--operate full-blown casinos. Even some tribes in Montana operate with higher wagers and payouts than their non-tribal counterparts.
In Alberta to the north, the provincial government operates Vegas-style casinos and Nevada itself is but hours away.
However, Montana operators also face competition from almost 2,600 no-limits, unregulated, untaxed "casinos" available to any resident with a computer and a credit card. These on-line, off-shore elctronic casinos had estimated gross revenues of $10 billion in 2004.
The internet is rife with gambling sites that offer everything from poker to roulette to craps, baccarat, slots and blackjack.
But competition is only one aspect of the ubiquitous internet gambling that concerns licensees, regulators, the legislature and our citizens.
First, most internet gambling sites operate outside our nation's borders so are outside the reach of any U.S. or state laws.
When a player deposits money in an internet gambling account, he or she has already taken a considerable risk. Will the money remain in the account? Will the credit card number remain confidential?
Are the games rigged or honest? If a player wins, will there be an actual payout? What about a player who loses personal control or who has a gambling compulsion and "bets it all"?
Is the player of legal age, and can that be verified?
None of these questions can be answered with any certainty, so officials of Montana's Gambling Control Division, along with the Gaming Advisory Council are backing legislation during the 2005 session declaring internet gambling to be officially, unequivocably illegal.
Senate Bill 103, sponsored by Sen. Brent Cromley (D-Billings), would prohibit internet gambling. It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 7-5 and passed from the Senate floor 34-15. As of March 8, 2005, it is awaiting action in the House Business and Labor Committee.
Most observers feel internet gambling in Montana is already de facto illegal. Since internet gambling requires use of a credit card and credit gambling is strictly prohibited in state statute, the activity itself has been deemed prohibited.
However, officials say that interpretation leaves too many gray areas and it has long been the desire of citizens, the legislature and regulators to make sure gambling activities in the state are governed under only the most transparent conditions.
Montana licensees and their business associations have long been on the record in support of small-stakes, small-time gambling such as is currently allowed under Montana law, and opposed to internet gambling.
They favor strict regulation, and that means absolutely no credit gambling. They want anyone engaged in offering games of chance to be under close regulatory scrutiny, to run fair games and to pay out every cent a winner has coming. They want players to gamble recreationally, not habitually, and they want to be sure players are of legal age. They also want operators to be licensed and to pay a reasonable portion of their earnings in taxes. And they care about their customers.
None of the above applies to nameless, faceless operators of internet gambling sites. Never mind that the activity is illegal under Montana law and will likely be even more explicitly outlawed; recognize that it is inherently too risky and a bad bet all around.
Source: Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.