The American online gambling and poker markets are ripe for development. Or, so say a few leading billionaire investors. The prevailing opinion in the class of billionaires is one worth listening to. And that opinion is simple: governmental regulation is coming. The U.S. online gambling market is massive, and when online gambling and poker become nationally legal, it may become the biggest single market in the world in a matter of days.
The days of online gambling and online poker in the U.S. have been marked by living in the shadows and overseas bank accounts. Because of this, most major investors have steered wide and clear from the industry. Until recently, that is.
The casino industry on all fronts is pushing internet gambling regulation into Congress. We’ve seen news from a third of the continental U.S. trying some form of another of regulation. The industry has not seen a breakthrough in regulation, to date. It’s in the works, though, and billionaires and investment groups are putting their money where their mouth is.
Last week, Donald Trump spoke up about regulating online gambling: “We have been looking at this for a while.” The industry expects that whoever gets to market first will carve out the biggest slice of the market. Unsurprisingly, as the likelihood of regulation increases, investments by prominent individuals (such as Trump) are becoming the norm.
Trump’s efforts include Marc Lasry, who you may not know off the top of your head. Lasry is a billionaire hedge fund manager, and controls Avenue Capital Group, a fund which invests $12 billion. Avenue Capital Group controls Trump Entertainment Resorts, the titled company which will hold a 10% stake in the online gambling venture between Trump and Lasry. As Trump said, “This has to happen because many other countries are doing it and like usual the U.S. is just missing out.”