Review of Internet Gambling Report IV
- Title:
- Internet Gambling Report IV
- Author:
- Anthony Cabot
- Publisher:
- Trace Publications
- Date:
- 2001
- ISBN:
- 0-9652938-4-X
- Pages:
- 426
- Price:
- $60.00
April 29, 2001
One of the most explosive, and controversial, of Internet services has been
on-line gambling. Hundreds, if not thousands, of sites have gone up in the last
few years catering to the home gambler, and few topics have engendered such
controversy, or such vacillation and half-measures, on the part of world
governments. The 4th edition of the Internet Gambling Report
is a collection of essays edited and partially written by
Anthony Cabot.
One topic that this reviewer knows even more thoroughly than gambling issues
is Internet service architectures. The Internet information provided in
Internet Gambling Report is pretty solid. Some of it isn't
correct on every detail, but even where it isn't correct to the letter it's
unlikely to mislead the reader, so I give the book reasonably high marks
in this respect. I'd like to have seen some more thorough explanations
and details in places, but of folks who read the book, I'm probably in
the minority on that.
One inevitable downside of a book like this concerns the currency of the
gambling information.
The state of government regulation of on-line gambling is highly volatile
and unforgiving of conventional publication schedules. The information
contained in the Internet Gambling Report looks to have been quite
accurate and thorough at the time it was written, but just in the few months
between final edit and the time I wrote this review, the status of
the proposed Kyl bill, the regulatory climate in Australia, and
potential regulation in Nevada have changed the playing field substantially.
It would seem that the opportunity to promote a newsletter, or at least
having a web site that listed updates, would be a no-brainer, but I found
no evidence that Cabot and his associates provide such a service.
As with any book, the big question is, "Should I buy and read it?" For
Internet Gambling Report, I find this to be a tough question
to answer simply. Instead, I'll list a couple of prospective readership
groups and analyze how this book will or won't help them.
- Internet Gamblers: While there's a lot of information here on Internet
gambling, little of it would be of direct value to Internet gamblers themselves.
Information about the legality of Internet gambling in a person's home
area may be worthwhile, but regulations change so rapidly these days that
anything one reads here might already be out of date. A better resource
for potential Internet gamblers is Bill Haywood's BeatWebCasinos.Com,
although many of the currency problems apply to this book as well.
- Potential On-Line Casino Operators: Folks who may want to open an on-line
casino will probably want to read this book. However, one shouldn't believe
that merely reading this book prepares one for opening such a site. To their
credit, Cabot and company do a good job painting just how difficult this is
and how it's not an undertaking to be taken lightly. One complaint I have,
though, is that just when the book is about to discuss details that would
help readers make an informed decision, they back down. For
example, in Chapter 7 where Jim McGeahy talks about Internet security for
on-line casinos, some of the attacks casino servers might face are discussed,
but steps to resist those attacks aren't mentioned, even though those solutions
are publically available.
- Traditional Gambling Operators: Internet Gambling Report
probably most satisfies those who are in management of traditional land-based
casinos who want to become more informed about the state of on-line gambling,
but not from the standpoint of gambling there themselves, or setting up shop
in cyberspace. For these readers, this book probably provides exactly
what they are looking for.
- Gambling Enthusiasts: Many people are just interested in reading about
gambling and the gambling industry, largely as a hobby. Certainly, this
reviewer falls into this
camp. While much of this book provides interesting information that's hard
to find in other places, people in this camp may not
ultimately feel satisfied with the coverage for this price.
As a collection of essays, the book is occasionally meandering and repetitive,
but not much more so than is inevitable in a volume like this. Internet
Gambling Report manages to provide a lot of well-researched information,
but it's not the sort of thing a lot of people will want to read. Still, if
understanding the business climate of on-line gambling is interesting to
you, this book fits the bill.
Capsule:
I would expect that not a lot of people would find the 4th edition
of the Internet
Gambling Report to be scintillating reading, but those who want to
come up to speed on the state of regulation and the business climate of
on-line gambling will find what they're looking for in this volume. Be warned,
though, that this is a rapidly changing environment that traditional
publication schedules can never truly keep pace with. Folks not interested
in on-line gambling regulation and business cases can afford to pass on
reading this large tome.
Note: I received a review copy of this book from the publishers. I
have no other interest, financial or otherwise, in the success of this
book.
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