Online Poker Has Congressional HearingMeeting Was Largely Positive For The Controversial Issue |
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On Tuesday, the U.S. Congress held a hearing entitled “The State of Online Gaming.” The meeting sounded largely favorable for the issue, bot no official action was taken.
“Prohibition of online gaming has not and will not work,” Geoff Freeman of the American Gaming Association testified. According to him, Americans spent $3 billion on “illegal” online gaming sites last year, which was around 10 percent of the global market.
Next up was Las Vegas Sands Corporation’s Andrew Abbound, who testified in opposition to online gambling. He said that “Internet gambling takes gambling too far.”
He added: “Simply because we can [legalize online gambling] doesn’t mean we should.”
Abbound said his firm wants Congress to “restore the Wire Act and protect American consumers.” The DOJ reinterpreted the law in December of 2011.
Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson will launch an anti-online poker group next year.
The Poker Players Alliance was up next and reiterated some of its usual talking points. “We continue to encourage Congress to enact the Barton bill,” the PPA’s John Pappas said.
Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling said that “government sponsored gambling” is a public policy “based on cheating and exploiting citizens.” He was clearly against Internet poker.
Rachel Volberg, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, spoke about the need to understand problem gambling with any increases in gambling within the country. She was neutral at the hearing.
Kurt Eggert, Professor of Law at Chapman University, testified about how crucial consumer protection is for Internet gambling. He seemed pretty neutral on the issue.
After testimony, the witnesses fielded some questions about online gambling. That section went pretty smoothly. It lasted about two hours.
Online poker almost surely won’t be legalized on a federal level, but some states are moving on the issue. Right now, Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware all have legal web betting.
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