Online gaming back on agenda in Iowa
Local media sources suggest bill to regulate online poker will go before state's legislature.
Plans to regulate online gambling in Iowa have been resurrected, according to the state’s local media.
The Des Moines Register newspaper has reported that a new gambling bill would allow state casinos to offer online poker to customers via “special accounts.” These accounts would include limits on the amounts wagered and length of playing time, while strict measures would be put in place to prevent fraud and ensure underage players could not take part.
Another Iowa newspaper, the Quad City Times, suggested that, while players’ accounts could only be set up and managed by them physically entering casinos, all online play would be allowed to take place at their homes.
Last year a similar proposal was put forward, with the support of Scientific Games’ SciPlay joint venture with Playtech, but no bill came to pass as a result.
Egaming Review could find no mention of the bill on the Iowa Legislature website, but reports suggest that it would go before a committee headed by Democrat Senator Jeff Danielson.
By the time the full details of any such bill become public, one American state might already have made the decision to regulate online gambling. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is set to announce on Thursday whether or not he has passed Senator Raymond Lesniak’s intrastate egaming bill into law.