The push for legalizing online gambling in the United States just got a big name to support the cause. The American Gaming Association (AGA), which had not supported legalization in the past, now believes it is the best course of action for the U.S. to take to keep consumers safe, The Washington Times reports.
The biggest reason that the organization believes the process should be legalized is because there are a number of illegal online poker operations that do not follow any regulations and can take advantage of players. The AGA has provided Congress with a code of conduct for online poker that features background checks of online operators and identifies all U.S. players.
“Current laws that attempt to prohibit Internet gambling have failed to stop the illegal internet gambling market from growing to $6 billion in the United States, exposing minors to Internet gambling sites of all kinds and leaving consumers at risk,” former FBI Director J. Louis Freeh said in a statement, the news source reports.
The move by the AGA comes after the federal government shut down Full Tilt Poker when it discovered the site raided player accounts, The Wall Street Journal reports.
