Casinos Now See Online Gambling as a Better Bet

Many of the country's largest casinos, long opposed to gambling games like poker on the Internet, are now having second thoughts.

Although online gambling is popular with millions of Americans, it is illegal in the United States, and the casino industry has considered it a threat. But the American Gaming Association -- a trade group that represents major casinos like Harrah's Entertainment, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts -- is working on a proposal that would ask Congress to legalize at least some form of online gambling. Gambling specialists said it was likely that any casino-supported legalization would be limited to Internet poker because it was considered the least threatening to brick-and-mortar casinos. Internet poker already had the backing of some in the casino industry, and was seen as a new and lucrative source of revenue for the casino companies.