Sweepstakes is the newest Internet gambling game making everybody topsy-turvy. The game, catered by Internet cafe, mimics casino games, only the keyboards are poised in the floor level basket. The players can purchase a long-distance phone cards loaded with sweepstakes points allowing them to play a variety of casino-type games and winning cash prizes.
The state attorney general contended that it is just another form of illicit gambling and the local prosecutor will look closely into the matter. The operators however, claim that it is a form of business advertising, no different from instant-win twist-off caps on a soda pop bottle, designed to enhance sales of legitimate products such as phone cards and Internet time.
This type of Internet gambling has already reached Alabama, California, Florida, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming constituting the most updated argumentation in the debate over what is considered illegal gambling. The proponents say that it is more of a pastime than gambling, since the bank account would not be imbued with millions because of that. William Consterdine, the vice president of Extreme Insured Products maintained that a person buying a phone card is not obliged, by any means, to spend its sweepstakes points on the game. “He can if he wants to, but if not, he can take the card and leave.”
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| Source: Gamblingsmart news Staff
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Sunday, 17 April 2005 |
Friday, July 25 2008 
