December 11th, 2013
By Poker Players Alliance
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Weekly Update from Rich Muny, VP of Player Relations
The big news this week is, of course, yesterday’s House Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee hearing on online poker and online casino-style gaming. The hearing, entitled The State of Online Gaming, “examined the current regulatory landscape for online gaming after the Department of Justice’s reinterpretation of the Wire Act,” with focus on H.R. 2666, Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) Internet Poker Freedom Act.
This hearing was more contested than past hearings on authorizing the game, as Venetian / Las Vegas Sands Corp. and its CEO, Sheldon Adelson, are spending tens of millions of dollars lobbying Congress and states like California and Pennsylvania for prohibitions on online gaming — with online poker firmly in their cross hairs. Representing them at the hearing was Las Vegas Sands Vice President of Government Relations and Community Development Andy Abboud. Joining Abboud in seeking a ban of online gaming was Les Bernal, national director of the anti-gaming group Stop Predatory Gambling.
We were represented by PPA Executive Director John Pappas, who did an outstanding job in making the case for online poker. Joining Pappas in arguing for a federal green light on Internet poker, American Gaming Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman was also very effective in making his case to the subcommittee. Law professor Kurt Eggert and Dr. Rachel Volberg rounded out the invited witnesses.
The hearing featured some lighthearted moments, including Rep. Barton stating that, given the frigid weather, the fact that he arrived to the hearing early after flying in from Dallas-Fort Worth that morning meant that God supported his legislation to license online poker. Countering him on that point was Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), arguing that the bill number, HR 2666, suggested otherwise. Not to be outdone, subcommittee Chair Lee Terry (R-NE), whose district includes Omaha, Nebraska, suggested that Texas Rep. Barton’s bill needs to ensure that states have the authority to choose which forms of poker would be allowed within their borders, so that they could ban Texas Hold’em and allow only Omaha if they wished.
The hearing focused quite a bit on states’ rights, with considerable discussion devoted to the fact that sites in three states – New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware — are already up and running. Venetian / Las Vegas Sands’ Andy Abboud tried to walk the fine line of suggesting that bricks-and-mortar casinos are terrific but online poker is so bad for our nation that Congress needs to step in and ban states from allowing it — including even the three states that have already gone forward — by suggesting that “Internet gambling takes gambling too far.”
Abboud’s attempt did not appear to be a very compelling argument early in the hearing, but it then fell apart completely under questioning. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) inquired about Venetian’s marketing of Cantor Gaming’s mobile gaming devices, suggesting that it seemed hypocritical. Rep. Barton drove the point home when he displayed a Venetian ad for mobile gaming where one could “wager anywhere in Nevada” and pressed Abboud for an explanation.
Abboud tried to argue that Venetian’s remote gaming is golden while all others need to be banned because Venetian’s remote gaming requires customers to interact with a person at the casino cage and that it takes place in a regulated state. The attempt to answer this fell so flat that Rep. Barton cut him off mid-answer and asked him not to try to filibuster the remaining time.
It was a very positive hearing for the poker community. I encourage you to check out the new PPA hearing page for all the detailed information you will need on this hearing. And, of course, if you have not yet watched the hearing, please be sure to do so (here):
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The Poker Players AllianceDedicated to Protecting America’s Favorite Card Game The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game and to protect poker players’ rights. Visit us at theppa.org
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