Reports surfacing over the weekend are amplifying rumors that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is fast-tracking efforts to establish federally regulated online poker, while blocking the expansion of other forms of online gambling.
The rumored plan would be for Reid to amend the Wire Act to block all forms of online gambling, but make an exception for poker while grandfathering existing online gambling regulated by individual states.
The federal government would burden the states of New Jersey and Nevada with operating a dually-controlled regulatory entity that would oversee the online poker industry. States with gaming boards and tribal bodies would be able to issue licenses.
American business magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has vehemently opposed online gambling in the past, is rumored to be in support of Reid’s bill, which would lend the effort more creditability and political weight.
Nevada casinos fear the possibility of regulated online casinos available to those within California state lines would certainly eat into the Vegas market. That concern could offer sufficient motivation to get Adelson and Caesars on the same page.
If California officials do not pass legislation making online gambling legal before the proposed federal lock-down, many believe they could miss out on one of the biggest expansions in the history of gambling. Of course, poker would still be allowed, but other forms of gambling would not be.
Join the Conversation