Former Attorney General Carl Bethel said yesterday he doubts the government will restrict web shop operators from offering sports betting and online slot machine games, known as "spinning".
The new law would permit "domestic players" to participate in "numbers games" with licensed web shops.
A numbers game is defined as a game made available by the holder of a gaming house operator license "in terms of which any single number or combination of numbers ranging from 000 to 999 may be wagered upon by a player at odds, which are fixed at the time of conclusion of the wager".
"I believe it will be changed, and if it isn't changed, they (web shop owners) will change it," said Bethel, referring to the Gaming Bill.
"You have a culture of doing what they wish to do, and so far it seems they have been prevailing, even against the will of the voters.
"If the majority of Bahamians wanted it legalized or regularized, they would have voted for it.
"But the Bahamian people either voted against it or voted with their feet. Yet, where are we today?"
Web shops, including but not limited to Asue Draw, Island Luck, Chances and Paradise Games, offer sports betting for a variety of matches and events.
Spinning is common in many web shops throughout the country.
Bethel said he believes the government will bend to the will of "the barons and lords of the web shops", who he said would soon make their objections known.
"I hear them saying it is only going to be numbers, but I don't think that is going to happen...not for the barons and lords of the web shops, no sir," he said.
"I find it difficult to believe that the government is able to say no to them for whatever reason.
"...We'll see who the government is, on that issue of gambling.
"But I do not hold out any hope that the barons and lords of web shops are going to be limited to play in numbers."
The majority of voters who participated in the gambling referendum last January voted against the regulation and taxation of web shops and the establishment of a national lottery.
Prime Minister Perry Christie has repeatedly defended his decision to go against the referendum results.
Christie said his decision came after the governor of The Central Bank brought to his attention the damning situation the country faced, "where there was a new banking order and where, in fact, loan managers [were] being hired to conduct personal mortgages".
The amended Gaming Bill will pave the way for web shops to be regularized retroactive to July 1.

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