“How Washington State has turned online gambling to its Advantage”

The increasing popularity of online gambling has hit the racetrack industry very hard and it continues to show significant monetary losses. However, Washington State declares that instead of maintaining this detrimental situation there is a position the racing industry can take to turn the Internet gambling to its advantage. The Washington State Horse Racing Commission has taken back at least a certain control of the state’s racing industry by awarding Youbet.com, located in Woodland Hills, California, a permit to take online wagers across the country on horse racing from Washington residents. The Washington horse racing industry receives from Youbet.com, in exchange for granting the license, a percentage fee incurred from each Internet bet, and in addition for illegal wagers that Youbet.com received the previous year according to state officials, the company must pay Washington State the sum of four hundred thousand dollars. By demanding the four hundred thousand dollars, Washington State is making it known lucidly that illegal dealings will not be tolerated, although it has been evaluated that Youbet.com actually earned in betting money approximately twelve million dollars. When queried about the message that was sent regarding the decision of the Horse Racing Commission, the Commission chairman, Gary Christenson, claimed that it’s making sure that Washington State is getting money owing to them by granting Youbet.com a license. He further added that it wouldn’t promise that the gambling would cease if a permit was not granted to them, and no blind eye was closed as it was known that they had to remit the money.

With one absent member at the time of taking the vote, the Commission’s decision to give the license to Youbet.com was a four to zero vote. Youbet.com submitted an application for the license although, according to Youbet.com’s lawyer, Scott Salomon, it thought that Washington State did not have the authority to control online interstate gambling, and despite the fact that Youbet.com did not transgress the law by using the Internet to take wagers from Washington residents. Furthermore, in Salomon’s opinion, everyone in the room was fully aware of any action that the company had or had not performed.

Many online Internet sites are continually taking bets illegally and gambling online has been taking place in Washington State for a number of years. Washington stands to grant licenses for horseracing betting to three online companies allowing them to take bets via the Internet. The most profitable three companies are the ones being granted the licenses. Being granted licences were two other companies: TVG of Hillsboro, Oregon, paying five hundred and forty two thousand dollars accumulated from five point seven million dollars in wagers from Washington, and Magna Entertainment Corporation of Aurora’s XpressBet, a subsidiary company, paying on two point four million dollars wagers a sum of one hundred and seventy eight thousand dollars.

Every type of online gambling was originally outlawed in Washington before these companies received a license. Regarding other companies that insist on taking bets, the Executive Secretary of the Washington State Race Track, Rick Day, claims that full investigation will be taken against companies which are assumed to be persisting in illegal online betting. At the present moment in time, some sixteen other states have passed laws limiting online gambling or controlling it.