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There’s also opposition to a casino in Allen County. Last year, a group of anonymous business owners, residents, and faith leaders assembled to launch Save Fort Wayne. The political action group says a casino “creates a net loss” by increasing addiction and crime.

The group’s website features an interactive slot machine where the spin always lands on an alleged negative consequence such as “addiction,” “bankruptcies,” “divorces,” “mental health issues,” “fatal accidents,” “child neglect,” “human trafficking,” and “poverty.”

Voters in DeKalb and Steuben will also weigh in on casino authorization. House Bill 1038, signed by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) in March, authorizes a single casino in one of the three counties.

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That distinction also informs his view of the wider battle. Asked whether illegal gambling can actually be defeated, his answer is: “No, but you can make it very difficult for them.”

The objective, he argues, is to make it harder for operators to simply replace a blocked domain with another one. “If they knew there was a tool that would find those new sites as well, they might become more cautious.”

It is a philosophy that sits within a broader shift in the industry’s approach to the illegal market. Domain blocking remains important, but regulators are increasingly looking at payments, advertising, affiliate and acquisition channels and cooperation across jurisdictions.

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In any event, successive regulatory tightening and tax increases have already created a “reasonably effective deterrent” to market entry.

There is a second complication. The relentless flow of Commission statements may eventually make enforcement less damaging rather than more.

“The regulatory failures are unhelpful but perhaps the sheer number and regularity of them has made them less remarkable, such that they become ‘wallpaper’,” Waugh says.