Delaware Unveils Proposed Regulations for In-State Online Gambling

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Friday, July 5th, 2013 | Written by Lucy Brown

With the release of proposed regulations governing gambling conducted online, the State of Delaware has taken a critical step closer to offering real-money online gambling to residents and others within the state.

The regulations were published shortly before the Fourth of July holiday by Delaware officials, specifically the Delaware Office of the Lottery, which is charged with overseeing the state’s online gambling efforts.

Delaware is aiming to launch online gambling in early fall of 2013.

Delaware’s system works differently than others

There are some critical differences between how Delaware approaches gambling and how other states – like Nevada – approach gambling. To simplify the situation, think of it this way: In Delaware, the state is basically the entity not only regulating, but also bankrolling regulated gambling. They are, in many ways, the house – while in Nevada, the state only regulates gambling activity and takes a cut via taxation.

Those differences extend to online gambling, where the State of Delaware will hold the primary regulatory role and also act in a quasi-commercial function. But that doesn’t mean that Delaware will be developing online gambling software or acting as the only face of online casinos in the state.

Instead, those functions – and many other related to regulated online gambling – will be largely delegated to licensees approved by the state.

888 and Scientific Games primary vendors for Delaware

Delaware selected a group consisting primarily of 888 and Scientific Games as the primary vendor for online gambling, meaning that the two companies will be responsible for selecting what software is used for the various aspects of Delaware’s online gambling platform.

That gives 888 and Scientific tremendous power in shaping the nature and direction of online gambling in Delaware.

Regulations open briefly for public comment

The regulations released this week by Delaware officials are still in the “proposed” stage, meaning that they’re not necessarily the final version of the rules that will govern online gambling in the state.

Anyone with an interest in the situation is allowed to post public comment on the regulations, and officials are meant to take these comments into consideration when developing the final draft of online gambling regulations.

The comment period is relatively short, however; if you want to provide feedback, you’ll need to do so by the end of July, after which the period for public comment will be closed.

Much of the details in Delaware left to operators

While Delaware’s proposed online gambling regulations do spell out the licensing process in great detail, the specifics of regulation are in many ways left unwritten. Both Delaware officials and operators will have to do quite a bit of followup work before Delaware can really claim to have a comprehensive system for regulating online gambling.

In short: These proposed regulations are more of a framework than a complete regulatory system.

Apparently nothing too onerous for players

While some details are still forthcoming, the early analysis of Delaware’s online gambling regulations suggests that there’s little for players to fear. Most of the approach seems to be player-friendly or neutral.

For example, a proposed regulation in New Jersey would allow operators to close an account and seize the funds if a player was inactive for a period of a year. Delaware requires a 5-year period, and even after that the operator must embark on a lengthy process before laying claim to the funds.