Caribbean Gaming

The Gaming Industry is extremely  averse to shutting down their online operations regardless of any risks to themselves, and with the money involved there isn’t too many groups beyond government regulators that seem to mind. But there at last seems to be a force stronger than any regulators  so far put in position; Extreme Weather . 

The hurricane season is just starting  and it seems like it will  produce more than its portion of severe weather  this year. The first to come onto the scene is Tropical Storm Alex which is threatening the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast. The Caribbean is a forerunner in the online Gaming Industry and the effects of the storm have already begun to produce  a ripple effect .

Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula are already feeling the effects of the storm and are already  starting  to see severe weather conditions. 

Gambling online is a huge  geo-political sticking point in North and South American dealings in the past few years. US regulators seem to be pushing toward making gambling online illegal while havens such as Costa Rica and Panama have become destination locations for online gambling businesses  .

Such cash-strapped nations are unlikely to change their laws regarding online gambling, making enforcement in the US close to impossible.

Though  online operations can suffer during tropical storms and hurricanes, casinos with “brick and mortar” locations are also vulnerable to extreme weather.

To prepare   for Hurricane Katrina, large numbers of casinos had to shut down operations to protect their infrastructure  . Many of those locations  stayed closed in the wake of the calamity as their local infrastructure required massive clean-up operations.

Illegal gambling online is at an all-time high in the US. Knowledge that no US online gambler has ever been charged or convicted of a crime as well as the return of the massively  popular World Cup is pushing huge amounts of US consumers to online betting operations.