March 9, 2010 (CAP Newswire) – The U.S. state that has perhaps the strictest attitude towards online gambling, Kentucky, is trying to pass a law that would tax online betting within its borders, thus legitimizing one form of online gambling while it continues its legal case against another (Internet poker).
The new law, House Bill 368, was passed without much debate in Kentucky’s state legislature at the end of February, and now faces a Senate vote (where the sailing will be a bit less smooth).
“The bill proposes a tax of half a percentage point on ADW (advance deposit wagers) made by any resident in Kentucky using Internet or telephone services, and was approved in the House by a vote of 85 to 8,” according to RecentPoker.com.
Similar to Iowa’s efforts to regulate and tax online casinos, this new bill will legalize online betting only within state borders, and all betting will be managed and organized through Kentucky companies. The tax will be taken from the wagering companies themselves. Similar situations exist in Illinois and Virginia.
Hypocrisy? Perhaps, but horse racing has always been a huge part of Kentucky’s culture, and this new bill is simply in line with that tradition. It doesn’t really contradict the state’s stance on online poker — although a fair move by the state would be to drop its online poker domain name seizure efforts in light of this admission that online gambling can be beneficial to the culture. Also, this development may hurt Kentucky’s stake in the upcoming poker domain name decision, expected later this month.