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"As a basic rule, if you lose, the money is immediately deducted from your credit card," Leach said. He worries that as Internet gambling grows, more people will gamble addictively, causing more bankruptcies, divorces, and even suicides. Experts estimate that 5.5 million Americans (2 percent of the U.S. population) are compulsive or problem gamblers. About 15 million more Americans are at risk of becoming problem or pathological gamblers, according to the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling (NCALG). "This is as large a family issue as faces the U.S. Congress," Leach said.

Tom Grey, 62, executive director of NCALG, said online wagering provides the anonymity that addicted gamblers crave. Internet gambling usually occurs at home, at any time. "With the click of a mouse you can lose your house without even leaving your house," Grey said.

Online betting also reaches a segment of the population prohibited from entering casinos and riverboats—teenagers. Young people with knowledge of a parent's credit card number "can gamble away tens of thousands of dollars before Mom and Dad have a clue about what's going on," Anderson said.

Leach believes his bill, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act, is the only practical way to end online betting. But Leach acknowledges credit card companies must cooperate. The proposed legislation makes it illegal for banks, credit card companies, and Internet payment systems to accept transactions from gambling websites.

PayPal, a leading Internet payment system, stopped processing such transactions in November. Most major credit card companies have stopped accepting such charges as well. "It's not in their interest to have a lot of people who can't pay back their cards regularly," Leach said.

Creditors face hurdles collecting on gambling losses outside the country without an expensive and lengthy legal tussle, said I. Nelson Rose, Whittier Law School professor in Costa Mesa, California. Casinos initially opposed Internet operators, which they saw as competitors.

But some, such as MGM Mirage, forecast large profits with low overhead. Now they want a piece of the action. MGM Mirage has set up shop on the Isle of Man in the British Isles. Harrah's also is investing in online betting.

"Some of the casinos are now saying, 'If it can't be outlawed, then we want to run it,' " said Rose, whose book Internet Gambling and the Law will be published this year. Racetrack betting from home computers is already legal in a dozen states. Rose expects state lottery tickets will soon be sold on the Internet.

The federal government has no role in regulating or prohibiting gambling, Rose said. "Gambling is a matter for states to decide."

But Leach said Internet gambling has become a federal issue because of its international character. "U.S. states have no jurisdiction in the Cayman Islands."

Another reason for regulation, Leach said, is government security, particularly related to the illegal drug trade and terrorism. "There is no easier way to launder money than through gambling, and no easier methodology than Internet gambling," he said.

Back in New Jersey, June is whittling away the $25,000 she still owes with her monthly $974 Social Security and pension income. Suffering from emphysema and other ailments, June spends her days reading the Bible and praying and helping others through Gamblers Anonymous.

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April 2003, Vol. 47, No. 4