Your2ndPlace

With protests and discussions all over about the ban on gambling within Second Life, it seems a little strange that most of the discussion is on how unfair the ban is or trying to find ways around it. There's a reason for the ban, and the ban is based on Law. What else could Linden Lab do? Reasonably speaking, they could have banned it months ago instead of turning down advertising for gambling related activities. They stretched it out and made it more painful.

I'm not a fan of gambling with money, that's no secret. In Making Your Mark in Second Life: Business, Land, and Money, I didn't describe a gambling business model for various reasons - the first being what is right in front of us. The Laws related to gambling aren't readily compatible around the world, much less within the United States itself. If there were no laws to worry about, perhaps gambling would not have been banned. One can turn and blame the laws, but then there is a basis to many of the laws.

But when the whining is over - and there is plenty of that going on - what's left? As pictured above, one business has moved on already - quickly. That's quick. That's the way it should be done. Quickly. Stretching out this denial phase of the grieving of gambling isn't really going to help anyone. The casino owners gambled on their businesses - and if they cashed out in time, good for them. If they did not, should they not be treated the same as someone who lost money at one of the machines? Business is Risk. The change in the advertising policy was a shot across the bow which some paid attention to - others, the high stakes extreme gambling folks, did not.

So what will they do? Arbitrage Wise called a meeting at JT Financial last night, and I showed up to participate in the talk. Two things seemed apparent: Maybe 2 casino owners were there, and they weren't sure what they were going to do. The majority of people there were trying to find ways to beat the system - and they didn't own a casino! While there are some questions as to what could be considered gambling within Second Life and where the line is drawn, is it so hard to look around and find a different business model? Or is all of this saying that the casino owners are not creative enough to do anything but gambling businesses? I would hope not.

There are other factors, of course. In talking with Jurin Juran, we wondered what the new folks who were gambling all the time would do. Maybe the allure of gambling is the thought that one might make a quick buck, but this would mean that gambling businesses would be unprofitable and would fold. The uproar about the gambling ban seems to indicate otherwise.

Whatever the reason, the ban is unlikely to change in the near future. So the question gambling businesses should be asking themselves is... what's the new business model for them?

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