Written by Sadonna | Monday, February 14th, 2011

Every gambler in the United States is waiting to see which state will be the first to offer online gambling. Several states have been in talks to offer online gambling but no one has stepped up to the plate to be the first. Just a few weeks ago it looked as though Iowa was going to be the first state and now it seems they have taken a step backwards.

Iowa lawmakers have discussed the idea but it doesn’t look like online gambling will be happening just yet. Iowa has not had luck with gambling in the past especially when it comes to offerings that are fun by the state. Back in 2006 Iowa stopped offering Touch-Play a video lottery system and had to pay out millions of dollars in settlements that were brought against the system.

Jack Kibbie is the president of the senate and he commented in the Quad-City Times that he believes lawmakers are ‘skittish’ when it comes to moving further into electronic based wagering for the next few years.

The Iowa Lottery chief has put his two cents in on the matter and he told lawmakers of Iowa that he is expecting to see the electronic option of the state lottery to implemented fast but he would not be making any changes before the legislature approves.

According to the article in the Quad City Times the lottery chief has advised legislators in the state that there is an advantage ‘to having some involvement in new technologies’ and this would then allow Iowa to be able to have legislate controls and regulations that would ban players that are under twenty one as well as prohibiting gambling on credit as well as keep the gambling activity inside the borders of the state. Another advantage would be to the ability to guard against illegal activities as well as criminal activities.

Despite the positive points that the lottery chief made, lawmakers are just not ready to make the giant step to become the first state to offer online gambling. However we may see the state making stronger strides towards online gambling if other states decide to go ahead and offer it in their states.

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