While the online gambling industry has obviously received news of Senator Frists’s recent victory with dismay, it seems that several major land-based casinos are unperturbed and are continuing with plans to develop their own online gambling ventures. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), which represents the major players in the U.S. land-based casino industry, several of its members believe Frist’s efforts will not prevent them from developing online gaming businesses.

The organization’s president and chief executive officer, Frank Fahrenkopf, has been quoted by several media outlets as saying that the AGA believes the decision of some land-based casinos to open online gaming sites regulated by U.S. states and territories will not be affected. “This bill did not make anything legal or illegal,” Fahrenkopf commented. “What it did was affect the mechanism by which Internet gambling takes place…and there is some question as to whether or not that will be effective.”

Fahrenkopf was referring to items inexplicitly laid out in Senator Frist's legislation, which failed to impose outright a ban on online casino games, such as poker and blackjack. However, the bill does prohibit financial institutions from accepting transactions from American residents.  

The AGA has previously spoken out in favor of moves to appoint a bi-partisan congressional commission to study and compile a detailed report on online gambling. The idea was first proposed by Jon Porter, a Congressman representing the state of Nevada. The commission would also investigate whether regulating American-operated online gambling sites could be successful. The idea was welcomed by the land casino industry in the U.S. and plans to move ahead with it continue. According to Congressman Porter’s legislative director, Trevor Kolego, the proposal is intended to be passed in the next session of Congress.

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