The Best Available Option

Supporters believe the best way to legalize online gambling is to debunk concerns that online will erode land-based revenues and jobs. I have a different solution.

This entry is about online casino legalization efforts, but to make my point, I will start with a bit of poker talk — after a word from our sponsor.

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There is a common situation in poker tournaments that forces you to put your chips in the middle in a less-than-ideal circumstance. Unlike a cash game, where you can wait for premium hands because you can leave or reload your chips whenever you want, only one person ends a tournament with chips, and to keep the pace moving, tournaments raise the blinds (forced bets).

The ideal (full stack vs. full stack) strategy is no longer on the table when you're short-stacked. When your chips are dwindling, and the blinds are increasing, you must choose between finding a good but imperfect spot to get your chips in the middle (all-in or fold) or waiting for a premium hand, which is up to the Poker Gods.

Any solid poker player will tell you option #2 is the inferior choice, as your stack is often whittled down to nothing, and even if you catch a hand and it holds up and you double up, you’re still short-stacked.

This is an easily preventable situation in a cash game where you can keep topping up to avoid a short stack or get up and leave whenever you want. And that is the fundamental difference between the two. A tournament limits your choices.

The Online Gambling Connection

When it comes to online casino legalization, some in the land-based casino industry think they’re playing a cash game. Someone (me) needs to tell them they’re not in a cash game; they’re in a tournament and getting close to all-in or fold territory.

The choice for land-based casinos is to be whittled down to nothing and miss the opportunity or get in the game ASAP. With every passing day, their stack is being reduced and fast approaching all-in or fold territory — and it will soon reach the point where doubling up is meaningless.

For some operators (those without an online gaming division or partnerships), online gambling isn’t the best option. A blanket prohibition of online gambling is the best option, but that’s a dream, and we are living in a reality where there are gray and black market operators in every locale and an inevitability to legalization.

What these operators need to understand is the legalization of online gambling is a better option than waiting until their opportunity is reduced to zero. There isn’t a miracle elixir that will permanently prevent online gambling from taking hold.

Efforts to stall or thwart online expansion are simply ceding ground to the current crop of online operators, including gray market operators like sweepstakes sites. The more they are allowed to grow, the more they, and not the land-based casinos, will become the online casino version of FanDuel and DraftKings, two names now synonymous with US sports betting.

The stalling will not only hurt your bottom line down the road but will take legalization proponents down with you.

Reframe the Discussion

Supporters aren’t doing themselves any favors by denying the possibility of a demand shift following the introduction of online gambling. This tactic emboldens opponents and simply isn’t resonating with decision-makers.

Even if you have a solid case, it doesn’t mean people must accept your conclusions. And sometimes, it comes down to the messenger.

Consider these comments from Matt Schuler, the executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, who told ESPN's Outside the Lines:

"When I get that feedback, whenever I see, 'Oh, we can't do that, they're going to have to go into the black market. It comes across with the sincerity of a shark being concerned about the welfare of the smaller fish being taken out of its tank."

My suggestion is a simple one.