A planned anti-online poker hearing in the nation’s capital now has a title. The planned Dec. 9 hearing from the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee is entitled: “A Casino in Every Smartphone — Law Enforcement Implications,” according to the committee’s website.
The title says a lot about how biased and misleading the public hearing will be.
The Poker Players Alliance alerted the poker community of the hearing early last month.
The committee is chaired by Rep. John Chaffetz (R-Utah), the lawmaker sponsoring the legislation to “restore” America’s 1961 Wire Act and put the genie back in the bottle, while also trampling on states’ rights. Currently, three states have regulated online casino games, while more than 10 state lotteries have already began using the Internet to boost sales.
The bill dubbed “RAWA” is backed by billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson, who is worried about online casino games hurting his business in America. Las Vegas Sands Corp. is the largest casino developer in the world in terms of revenue, but most of that money is won outside America.
In March, the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations discussed the Chaffetz bill, and the hearing was baffling. The March hearing was described by the PPA as “an exercise in fear mongering” and “an unfortunate waste of everyone’s time.”
There’s another RAWA proposal in the Senate, but it hasn’t had a hearing this year.
Nevada, the state that first legalized and regulated online poker in America, is in the midst of some political infighting over online gaming. Nevada’s Republican attorney general drew harsh criticism from the state’s Republican governor after the former said that he would be signing a letter to support RAWA. It’s unclear if Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s support for the ban will make any difference whatsoever. The efforts to ban online gaming are still viewed as very unlikely, but Adelson long ago pledged to spend “whatever it takes” to thwart the activity.
The Dec. 9 hearing comes as Pennsylvania is inching closer to legalized online casino games.
