"Despite the debates over the legal status of Internet gambling, software developers and online gambling operators continue to churn out more games and features to satiate their customers' appetites," according to Frost and Sullivan, an international marketing consulting company.

Frost and Sullivan report in a recent press release that the industry generated $834.5 million in 1998, an increase of more than 100 percent over 1997, and that analysts expect the Internet gambling markets to continue healthy growth from 1999 to 2005.

As for the laws surround Internet gambling, Frost and Sullivan indicate that "software developers and operators maintain that laws prohibiting online gambling will be effectively unenforceable and that people who wish to gamble online will do so regardless."

But opening an online casino is far from a sure bet. "Online companies will have to withstand several threats to stay viable. Enforcement of laws prohibiting online gambling in the United States could become a major stumbling block. The absence of a formal regulatory body has led to a lack of credibility for the industry. The possible entrance of land-based casinos into the market also poses a threat.

"If the U.S. government opts to regulate Internet gambling, this will open the floodgates to the Harrah's and Caesar's of the world to establish online operations and essentially drive the lesser-known operations out of the market."