According to the Las-Vegas Review-Journal, Sen. Harry Reid said that Congress next year will take up legislation to outlaw Internet gambling, and he plans to support a ban while trying to gain an exemption for online poker.
“I think there will be efforts made to get rid of the Wire Act,” Reid is quoted in the report.
Billionaire casino owner, Sheldon Adelson, is an opponent of Internet wagering, and there was a failed effort to lobby House and Senate leaders to place a prohibition on online gambling into a year-end spending bill. But Adelson may still get what he wants in the end.
Reid said he and Adelson agree that online gambling should be prohibited and Reid thinks it is an invitation to crime. “If there is a chance to (legalize) poker, I will do that, but I am not for the Wire Act,” Reid says.
Per the report, Reid’s role in the lame-duck negotiations was unclear. He was prepared to try to “carve out an exemption” for poker in the Senate if the House had passed an online gaming ban. It was not clear how that would have happened in the fast-moving closing days.
Reid said the only way legalized poker can pass Congress is if it is coupled with legislation that prohibits other forms of online gaming.
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