Green light for online gambling in Virgin Islands

“This marks a turning point in the diversification of our gaming industry from land-based casinos and racinos, to Internet gaming and gambling. The implementation of this Act will fulfill our mission of attracting very successful global Internet gaming companies to the Virgin Islands, and encourage new investments to our struggling economy,” the governor Gregory R. Francis said.

The jurisdiction’s attorney general stated that “the territory [should] utilize systems and programs that would permit only adults to utilize the Internet for gaming purposes in jurisdictions where such gaming and gambling are permissible as a matter of law.”

According to the press release, “At a time of unprecedented fiscal crisis, the implementation of Internet Gaming and Gambling will attract gaming related technology companies to the territory, creating new jobs, while transforming St. Croix and the Virgin Islands into a gaming leader in the Caribbean.” It is only the fourth U.S. jurisdiction to authorize web gambling.

“The Virgin Islands is open for business and the Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission will begin to implement the act immediately,” the governor and the commissioner said in closing.

It’s unclear which companies would be involved in the industry there. The implementation of the new law creates the fourth US jurisdiction that has legalised internet gambling, following New Jersey, Delaware and (for online poker only) Nevada.