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Internet Gambling "Bigger than Macau"

“Macau had 25 million visitors in 2010 while according to comScore 32 million U.S. residents visited online gambling sites in the month of October 2010 alone,” writes Steve Bulwa in an anti-UIGEA screed over at BusinessInsider.com.

“That was up 114% from the previous month and in an environment where it is still illegal and very difficult to deposit funds at gambling sites.

“When the U.S. online gambling market is legalized it will have the potential to dwarf the opportunity in Macau without the overhead required to build massive multi-billion dollar structures to lure visitors. You just need a little extra server space in Kahnawake.”

Bulwa is just the latest in a long line of financial experts advising the regulation (and greater taxation) of online gambling in the United States. His analogy with Macau is particularly revealing given that so many casino giants are treating that Chinese district as the new gambling mecca.

If properly monetized, online gambling as an industry could be far more profitable than any land-based gaming. Today’s casino affiliates  are in on the industry at an early — and thus, advantageous — time.

But that’s all the more reason to be wary of new regulations that could squeeze out your casino affiliate business. And numbers like what Bulwa’s throwing around here aren’t going to be ignored by politicians much longer.