Hedging Online Bets

Britain-based online gambling site 888 is disallowing U.S. customers from wagering due to pending legislation to definitively ban Internet gambling in the U.S. Full story here.

This follows from the arrests of two CEOs of fully legal (outside the U.S.) Internet gambling companies as they passed through the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave while traveling.

Back in July, when the feds first picked up BetOnSports' chief David Carruthers, Jacob Sullum took a long look at the nuanced madness of that action.

Arguably the most idiotic element of the new legislation, which would clarify what has been a gray area for a very long period of time, is that everyone involved knows that it's only a matter of time before online gambling is made fully legal in the U.S. As Greg Beato wrote in our May issue, legalized gambling has already moved from the Vegas Strip to Main Street. The question isn't if online gambling will be allowed, only when.