The United States government requires a 25% tax on gambling winnings that exceed $600 at a horse track, $1,200 at a slot machine or bingo game, $1,500 in keno, and $5,000 in. Foxwoods Resort Casino has signed a deal with DraftKings as the platform to host online sports betting pending any legalization in Connecticut. The deal also includes a collaboration in offering.

The United States has always been the home of gambling around the world. The fame of Las Vegas stretches far and wide, but this country’s relationship with gambling is a lot more complicated than the depiction of Sin City on the silver screen would have you believe.

1. Play the best free games, deluxe downloads, puzzle games, word and trivia games, multiplayer card and board games, action and arcade games, poker and casino games, pop culture games and more.
2. Play the best free games, deluxe downloads, puzzle games, word and trivia games, multiplayer card and board games, action and arcade games, poker and casino games, pop.

While excess gambling may be encouraged and even welcomed in the Nevadan city, across many other states in the country there’s an altogether different attitude to gambling. Here in New Jersey, our laws buck the trend.

Casino gambling, as well as online poker and live casino facilities, are available in New Jersey as long as they hold a license from the DGE. That makes New Jersey stand out in an American context, as most, if not all forms of internet gambling, are illegal in most US states.

We look at whether New Jersey’s relaxed laws are benefitting the state or not.

Safer Gambling

The law should safeguard people and evidence shows that anti-gambling laws in states such as Utah and Hawaii do not do that.

The purpose of any law must be to protect the citizens or the institutions that they rely on. In the context of gambling, tough laws prohibiting online gambling are almost always put in place to safeguard citizens.

It’s argued by many in favor of online gambling prohibition that the activity is intrinsically unsafe and poses a risk to minors and those prone to addiction.

Unfortunately for lawmakers, online gambling and gambling in general are not as straightforward as that. Let us take Utah for example, the only mainland state in the country where online gambling in all forms is illegal.

Do the good people of Utah not place wagers online? Of course not. While there are no official figures to show how many Utahns gamble online – they wouldn’t after all – anecdotal evidence suggests that plenty of them do.

Instead of gambling with licensed Utahan companies, residents are often placing wagers with overseas betting companies. This means they are not protected by law if and when things go wrong.

Nationwide empirical evidence recently published showed that Americans wagered $1 billion with overseas betting companies in the last year alone. Not one single cent of that money was protected by American law.

In New Jersey, whatever gripes we may have with licensing and regulations, we can at least agree that our online casinos are accountable to state law and that users reap the rewards of the security that that brings.

More Jobs

Unemployment is now more of a greater concern than ever before, but legalized and licensed online gambling companies could help to reduce the rate.

Unemployment in America hit an all-time high of 14.7% in April last year, and New Jersey was hit particularly hard too. The unemployment rate here was slightly higher than the national average, standing at 16.8%.

While nationally unemployment has dropped to around 7%, in New Jersey it has only fallen to 10.2% as of November last year. That means that roughly 460,000 people in the state are left without a job.

Fortunately, the gambling sector employs roughly 10% of that figure (around 45,000) and is continuing to grow. With every passing month, the DGE are looking to grant more licenses to online gambling companies.

Every such licensed company could employ hundreds of people, which helps to make a dent in the state’s climbing unemployment figures. At the time of writing though, the rate in which the DGE are granting licenses remains fairly slow.

If the department were to streamline their processes and allow more companies to operate legally and safely in the state, then there would be an explosion of jobs in the industry.

In the UK, a country with a world-leading gambling economy, the industry employs hundreds of thousands of people. How? Well one way online casinos hire residents is in their live casino offering.

Top-tier online casino sites have a large selection of live casino games, which are streamed directly to the user’s PC or mobile devices. These halls and tables are ran by real dealers, who can interact with players in real time. In the UK, 888 Casino have around 40 tables at play at any given time, including all live games such as live Roulette, Baccarat and Blackjack along with all their genres, which together constitutes as one of the largest live casino operators in Europe.

Increased Tax Revenues

Unfortunately, it’s hard to get hold of the exact revenue and profit figures that New Jersey’s online gambling industry brings in every year. However, if we look to April of last year, we can get a taste of the type of money that is being spent online.

In that month alone, $117,821,280 was spent with online casinos, while just over $85 million was spent on online sports wagers. If we extrapolate those figures out to make up a year, the revenues of the online gambling industry in New Jersey appear eye-wateringly huge.

This is good news for the state in general, as a huge amount of money is subject to tax both at the source and in secondary winnings. With states that have prohibited online gambling laws, almost all these revenues would be sent overseas to Canadian and British gambling companies, forcing them to lose out on vital tax dollars.

In Summary

The tide has turned with online gambling, and whether lawmakers like it or not, there’s no turning back. If online gambling is illegal, poker, blackjack and roulette fans will simply find an overseas website where they can gamble, as Utah has shown.

The future for the country lies in following the example set here in New Jersey, of closely regulating a homegrown industry.

That said, New Jersey still has a long way to go if it is to truly reap the economic rewards of a flourishing online gambling industry. Lawmakers must look to the example of our Atlantic neighbors in the UK. Mimic their regulation and licensing procedures and allow the industry to create more tax revenues and job opportunities.

Announcing its trading statement, William Hill has revealed that it expects to lose £30 million over lockdown closures. However, the bookmaker also reported growth in its online operations, as more people chose to place bets at home.

William Hill’s operations were badly affected by lockdown closures, although it did see a boost from online customers. ©Lukas/Pexels

Impact of Lockdown

British bookmaker William Hill has published its trading statement, at the close of the fourth quarter. It details how the company has weathered the coronavirus pandemic that affected business for the greater part of last year. Despite the lockdowns, William Hill says its total net revenue for the fourth quarter grew by 9% year on year.

The statement also reports that sportsbook staking saw an increase of 16%, thanks to expansion and boosted product offerings. Sports results were good for gross win margins, and the sportsbook net revenue went up 20% year on year.

William Hill was not entirely unscathed by COVID-19 though, as high-street retail was forced to close at a number of points during the year. Disruption to the sporting calendar also impacted the availability of betting odds. Consequently, the group’s total net revenue for the year fell by 16%, to £1,324 million.

William Hill was able to act flexibly in response to retail closures during lockdown, which saw net revenue drop by 30%. This primarily impacted the first quarter of 2020, although a knock-on effect was felt throughout the year. The business was able to recover when retail reopened, and was almost set to break even at the end of the third quarter.

However, during the fourth quarter, more restrictions were put in place, as virus rates peaked and the new variant emerged. Betting shops were forced to close again, and the year ended with an estimated loss of £30 million. William Hill confirmed that it has repaid the £24.5 million of furlough funds that it received, and that its staff received full pay throughout the year.

Throphonadca.tk U S Casino Online

The trading statement points out that there were a number of highlights for William Hill during 2020, one of which was the successful integration of Mr Green, which was launched in two regions. As a result, online international net revenue went up by 12%. William Hill was able to overcome regulatory changes and the cancellation of sporting events by implementing a multi-brand strategy in combination with product improvements. This saw gaming grow by 18%.

In fact, during 2020, William Hill’s UK online net revenue grew 5%, thanks in part to platform and product improvements. As sports schedules returned to some kind of normality towards the end of the year, gaming net revenue grew by 20% in the final quarter.

The statement also notes the company’s commitment to protecting customers from gambling harms during the pandemic. It put in place special safety measures in response to concerns that the financial insecurity, stress and boredom of lockdown could contribute to a rise in problem gambling. The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents the UK’s casinos, bookmakers and online operators, led its members in a pause on TV and radio gambling adverts during the first lockdown of 2020.

William Hill’s CEO, Ulrik Bengtsson, has a positive outlook on how the company tackled the difficulties of 2020. It was a year of highs and lows, not only for its business in the UK, but its expansion into the US sports betting market too. Bengtsson said:

“2020 was a year like no other. It tested our agility and flexibility and we delivered, keeping our customers and team safe, whilst materially improving our competitive position through product enhancements and geographical expansion. The offer received for the Group recognises the substantial progress we have made as well as the opportunities and challenges ahead of us.”

Throphonadca.tk U S Casino Online Slots

US Expansion

William Hill has also been making headway in the US, where state by state the sports betting market is opening up. Last year it experienced a surge in its online growth there, pushing net growth up by 32%. However, lockdown restrictions kept casinos closed for long periods, and American sports events were disrupted too. As part of a pre-existing agreement with Caesars, William Hill took over its sportsbooks.

Despite the pressures of the pandemic, William Hill was able to expand its US operations into five new states. It also launched its mobile platform in five states, causing net revenue to grow 121% during the final quarter. Both CBS Sports and ESPN, two us the US’s most popular sports media groups, now feature William Hill’s odds and betting apps.

Without a doubt, the biggest news for William Hill in 2020 was its acquisition by Caesars Entertainment. The boards of both companies announced that they had reached an agreement on September 30th, which would see Caesars buy out all of William Hills’ assets for a price of 272p per share. On November 19th, shareholders agreed to the terms of the acquisition.

Throphonadca.tk U S Casino Online Pa

All Caesars needs to do now is obtain approvals from gaming authorities in the US. Once that has been done, it could be set to complete the acquisition as soon as March 2021. Caesars’ interest lies mainly in the value of William Hill’s wealth of experience in sports betting, something that most gambling operators in the US are lacking. Bengtsson added:

“I remain immensely proud of the William Hill team which has been relentless in its focus on delivering a great product and service to our customers, with player safety at its heart. Customer, Team, Execution have been our guiding lights through this unusual year, and they will remain so as we look forward through 2021.”

Throphonadca.tk U S Casino Online Casino

Despite the unprecedented pressures of the pandemic in 2020, the future looks bright for William Hill. Overall, its revenues did drop, but online interactions rose in response to a targeted strategy. It is making leaps and bounds in the US, although the future of William Hill’s UK operations remains uncertain, especially with the government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act underway. William Hill will publish its financial results for 2020 soon. An announcement is to be made on February 24th.