A report from Goldman Sachs concludes what some of us already know.  Legalized and regulated online casinos would do the United States more good than the current ban.  According to a letter the investment bank sent its investors, it is only a matter of time before online casinos and the Internet gambling industry is regulated in the United States. 

The reason for the inevitable legalization is simple: legislators cannot deny how lucrative a legal online casino industry would be in the United States.  Estimates put the worth of such and industry at $12 billion.  Such an industry would be more than welcome in a our sluggish economy. 

“We believe it is logical to assume that the US market will eventually regulate - given the potential implications for US tax take, if nothing else,” read the letter from Goldman Sachs. 

“Were the market to be legalized, we believe that the size of the revenue opportunity could increase materially... Based on an assumption of 30 percent penetration of offline poker players and $300 gross gaming revenue per player, we estimate that a legal poker market could be worth $3 billion.”

These projections from the financial industry may be the reason for the air of confidence that Barney Frank carries about him when he talks about legalizing online casinos by the end of the year.  He recently announced to thousands a the World Series of Poker last weekend that he believed that Internet gambling would be a legal form of gaming in the United States before 2010.