The Online Gambling World is Being Compared to the Wild West

American gambling laws have become an everyday topic of discussion in the US.Apparently the FBI has jumped on the band wagon and has begun to analyze online casinos and internet gambling in order to determine whether it’s safe or not.

According to the FBI online poker can be subject to manipulation. Assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, Shawn Henry, claims that “There are several ways to cheat at online poker, none of which are legal.” Henry goes on to say, “Technology exists to manipulate online poker games in that it would only take two or three players working in unison to defeat the other players who are not part of the team.”

These statements can be found to be a bit confusing. Who is the government trying to protect, US citizens who want to gamble, or online gambling sites in the US? It’s hard to believe that an online gambling site would let members get away with such trickery. With the act of gambling having been round for thousands of years, those running gambling sites have developed ways to protect themselves.

Democrat Barney Frank has submitted a bill to congress that would reverse the effects of the Notorious UIGEA laws and bring online gambling one step closer to being explicitly legal. If the government is looking out for the well being of its citizens, it should legalize gambling and regulate it.

According to Malcolm Sparrow, a professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a regulated industry would offer better protection than prohibition. If the government comes to its senses and realizes this, internet gambling in the United States will be much more safe and secure.