Lacking a lot of initial start up money, Bair, 24, from Dover Township, took his dreams to the Internet and opened an online betting casino. "The whole concept of selling online casinos to the public is fairly new, "Bair said. "I'm sure the demand will explode over the next year or so." Bair invested $1,000 in start-up money, which he paid to a firm that designed his site for him. Anyone can do it, said Jeff Foster, co-owner of the umbrella company that runs the firm that designed the site for Bair. "All our casino and sports book Web sites are easy to use and require no technical knowledge," Foster said. "The Web site domain name is owned by the customer. They simply promote the online casino, and we pay them commissions on all revenue from the site for doing so."

 The site went online a few weeks ago and has had several hundred visitors since then. Visitors to the casino can bet on professional sports and play blackjack, roulette, craps and many different kinds of poker. To legally circumvent U.S. gambling laws, online casinos are usually based outside the United States. This company, for example, has business partners with gaming licenses in Curacao, a Caribbean island in the Netherlands Antilles. "Casinos based in the United States have to pay taxes and abide by U.S. gambling laws, which do not permit for interstate gambling," said Andrew Paxton, an attorney specializing in Internet law at CGA Law Firm in York. Foster said his company makes it easy for would-be online owners to set up their sites without having to worry about gaming licenses and offshore bank accounts. "The (sites) we design do not require that you have a gaming license to operate them, since the sites have our partners' gambling software installed," Foster said. He said he couldn't name the companies he partners with because " that would give away our secret recipe."