US: Lottery sales bring into question New Zealand online gambling laws

US lawmakers have been asked by their constituents thousands of times to explain the online gambling laws in the country. With each question comes a more complex, confused look, as legislators have been unable to answer the question with a unified answer since 2006.

There is no clear cut answer, as online horse race betting is legal, online poker and casino games are in a grey area, and sports betting is illegal. That is the easy answer, until one recognizes that horse racing is a sport, and therefore should be illegal. State lotteries murky the water even more when they started offering lottery tickets online.

New Zealand is a country in which all forms of online gambling are illegal. The lottery has announced to customers that they can now go online and buy scratch-off tickets. That goes against everything the government has stood for over the past several decades.

The National Lottery Commission began their expansion when they started selling scratch-off tickets in supermarkets. The response was strong from New Zealanders, and the Lottery wants to capitalize on the popularity of their products. To do that, the online scratch-off idea was born.

The government is facing some questions regarding the online gambling. The Problem Gambling Foundation has voiced their opposition to the Internet options. The Foundation claims that while ticket sales are popular in supermarkets, the lottery should not exploit gamblers by expanding the places where the tickets are available.

Pro-online sales groups say that the additional form of gambling can help the budget greatly. Additionally, with the ability to buy tickets online, customers will save money by not having to waste gas and other resources going to the retail outlets to buy the tickets.

The ensuing debates will be similar to the US, where online poker players are outraged since the Department of Justice indicted PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker executives. The players have complained to their representatives, many of which have now softened their stance on Internet gambling regulations.