23 Nov 2005 news piece entitled online casino gambling vs indian gaming

With the popularity of Indian (Native American) casinos still largely unchallenged for value and convenience, should online casinos be taking the route of fashioning themselves as Indian casinos that can be played from anywhere in the world? You might find that the Indian tribes would be offended if online casinos decided to do this - after all, Indians are in it for the money, but they aren't in for the money for the same seemingly materialistic reasons that online casino businesses are. You won't find too many online casinos that use their funds from revenue to finance schooling, after school programs, rehabilitation and welfare programs for the populace of the tax havens in which they operate.

So should online casinos do anything about challenging Indian casinos? It isn't really all that realistic to expect that online casinos will dethrone the popularity of Indian casinos - after all, Indian casinos offer more than just games - they offer meal deals, concerts, car giveaways and much more on a scale that online casinos could match but in a much more impersonal way. What's more, Indian gaming is legal in the United States, and millions of Americans travel short or long distances to Indian Reservations in order to take advantage of the ability of the tribes to operate their casinos for the public benefit.

Casinos that operate over the internet have the advantage of being played anywhere. Casinos that operate on Indian Reservations have the advantage of the convenience of not having to drive or fly to Las Vegas or Atlantic City for that fun gambling atmosphere of being in a themed casino setting. Online casinos and the big casino groups based in Vegas and elsewhere see themselves as being in competition - at least, the online casinos do and the land-based casinos would like to see online gambling legalized so they can compete and get the money, even if they aren't at all worried about being overtaken by net casinos. Indian casinos can rest secure, as can online casinos. Neither are going anywhere anytime soon.