March 22 2011, Matthew Kredell, PokerNews Staff

Michael Gaughan, owner of the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, has become the first owner of a Las Vegas casino to publicly support a bill that would legalize Internet poker in Nevada. Assembly Bill 258 would allow the Nevada Gaming Commission to regulate and license online gaming. The bill, introduced by Assemblyman William Horne, is the most player-friendly bill ever proposed in the U.S., and is supported by online poker giant, PokerStars.

When the bill was introduced, optimism was quickly stymied by opposition to the bill from casino giant Caesars Entertainment. It figured that other brick-and-mortar casinos would follow Caesars’ lead, providing a huge roadblock for the legislation. However, Gaughan’s public support for the bill provides a ray of hope that the legislation may yet have a chance.

“There is no doubt in my mind that online poker and other games are coming,” Gaughan said. “AB 258 would make us a pioneer in the nationwide movement and the leader for the rest of the country to emulate.”

Nevada is facing over a $1 billion deficit and a 13.5 percent unemployment rate. Gaughan believes that legalizing Internet poker could add employment opportunities and could bring over $500 million into the state budget.

Most bills that have been discussed in the federal or state governments have included wording that’s frustrating even to poker players who long to have legitimacy for their game. The proposal from Sen. Harry Reid last year had a 15-month blackout during which no one in the country would be able to play online. The bill recently introduced in Congress by Rep. John Campbell includes wording that accuses existing operators of illegal activity.

The Nevada bill specifies that it would not discriminate against existing operators like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, and that it would authorize the Nevada Gaming Commission to enter into compacts with other jurisdictions where interactive gaming is not prohibited. Initially, this means Nevada could partner with foreign countries that allow online poker. Over time, other states could pass legislation to join the Nevada network and Nevada could become the center of online gaming, just as it is for brick-and-mortar casinos.

Gaughan said he doesn’t mind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker being allowed to participate in a Nevada system.

“I don’t think you should eliminate any one group of people,” Gaughan said. “If you have an open bill, you have an open bill. I hate to see a monopoly on anything.”

Caesars, formerly known as Harrah’s, and MGM are in favor of online poker legislation but want it to be passed at the federal level. Gaughan said he supports a state bill because he believes it would be better for the smaller casinos in Nevada.

“The federal bill was pro Harrah’s and MGM, and wanted to keep everyone else out,” Gaughan said. “I don’t want the big places to wind up with it, and the little guys can’t get it. Pass the bill and let the chips fall where they may. I think a state bill opens it up for everybody.”

Gaughan said he doesn’t know if other casino owners will follow in his footsteps, and that he will not lead a lobbying charge in favor of the bill.

“I think it’s good for the state,” Gaughan said. “I don’t know how good it will be for me, but I think it will benefit the state. That’s why I’m not opposing it. I think others may be mad about it, but I don’t care. It won’t be the first time I’m at odds with Harrah’s.”

PokerNews is monitoring this issue closely and will keep you updated with further developments, so stay tuned for more, and as always, follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Tue, 02/15/2011 – 00:27 – PokerPages Staff

A Republican Congressman from California, Darrell Issa, invited business leaders recently to help him work out exactly what taxpayers and entrepreneurs need to secure the right to succeed and grow in the USA.  He may not have expected such forthright advice, but Michael Waxman – Executive Director and founder of the industry trade association “Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Association” – decided to take him at his word.  Issa’s quest, after all, is identical to that of the U.S. iGaming industry and casinos vis-à-vis online poker.

Mr. Waxman submitted a lucidly argued letter to Congressman Issa, arguing that the crude prohibitionism of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has done nothing to prevent internet gambling, with Americans now wagering around $100 billion online every year.  Thanks to measures like the UIGEA, however, they do so without any guaranteed mechanisms in place to shield them from identity thefy, fraud and even, on occasions, their own weaknesses.

Moderate and sane, the letter argues that government regulation of the online industry would deliver consumer protections, yield abundant tax revenues and create desperately needed jobs.  Commenting on his letter, Mr. Waxman announced that organizations such as Safe and Secure Internet Gambling “need to continuously stay in front of Congress” to ensure that the supporters of online gambling regulation – which of course includes online poker – have their voices heard.  There is an “opportunity to get this done,” Mr. Waxman said, and he clearly intends to assist Congress to move in the right direction.

The significance of Waxman’s public letter lies in the fact that Congressman Issa is Chairman of the House Oversight and Government reform Committee.  A previous avenue for prospective reform – the Financial Services Committee – has turned into a dead-end with the appointment of Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus to the Chair after the mid-term elections.  Once upon a time, when Barney Frank was at the helm, the committee was a key focus for online poker lobbying.  Bachus, however, is a hardline opponent of internet gambling and appears closed to persuasion.

Waxman believes that, whilst the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee cannot initiate legislative reform in itself, it could expand awareness of the issues amongst congressional lawmakers by holding hearings and exploring the reasons why UIGEA is so burdensome.  Congressman Issa is “in a great position” to champion the cause, even if his committee has no jurisdiction to introduce legislation.

Safe and Secure Internet Gambling has chosen to concentrate on pushing for legislative reform at the federal level, although Waxman insists that he is not opposed to state-level initiatives.  He regards movement on the state level as a “very positive sign” – the recent regulation of online poker in New Jersey and the likelihood of other states following suit will, he believes, show federal legislators that internet gambling can be and should be effectively regulated.  Every time a state opens up an online market, it not only bestows extra freedom on its citizens but boosts job creation and economic development, too.

The growth of online poker regulation on a state by state basis resembles the early days of the lottery; states could eventually allow their players to combine, just as the lottery did with the Powerball Lottery.  However, the Wire Act could jeopardize this – states will almost certainly need to challenge the Act in court or in Congress before such combinations can proceed.

Despite the Republican gains in the mid-terms, Waxman remains optimistic about the prospects for reform.  And he has a staunch ally in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – a stalwart friend of the online poker community – who continues to express great interest in the issue.

Sat, 02/12/2011 – 03:38 – PokerPages Staff

In November last year, New Jersey claimed the honor of becoming the first state ever to pass a bill regulating and licensing online poker through its legislative body, the state senate.  Governor Chris Christie has yet to declare whether he will use his power of veto to kill the bill, but in many respects it would be a surprising – and financially destructive – move if he did.  The Governor is not known for his hostility to online poker and, presidential ambitions aside, he may be more inclined to adopt a pragmatic policy to increase much-needed revenue for his State – which taxing a lucrative internet poker business will certainly achieve – than try to appease his more fundamentalist Republican colleagues.

The latter are rarely satisfied that the descent into debauchery and decadence they fear can be halted; so terrified are they that we’re all poised to slide down the slippery slope into moral depravity that the moment one draconian law is passed, they immediately want another.  Blocking this bill is unlikely to mollify them; they’re far more likely to seek more clampdowns and prohibitions instead. But what about other states?  Can we begin to speak of a “New Jersey Effect?”

Just a few short years ago, it looked as though California might have beaten New Jersey to the statute book.  Back in 2008, it was the Sunshine State which was poised to become the first in America to regulate and license online poker.  But the coalition which had fought for the bill began to fight like cats in a sack, with card rooms and other gambling interests competing prematurely over who would get the biggest slice of the cake and the Indian casinos breaking out into some very unbrotherly infighting.  The bill fell apart as a result.

But New Jersey’s recent success has started to refocus interest in a Californian equivalent.  The new Executive Director of Poker Voters of America, Patrick Dorinson, is more confident than ever that his organization and the Morongo Tribe’s California Online Poker Association (COPA) can co-operate productively on getting a bill through the state legislature.

Dorinson believes that a consensually agreed bill supported by these two major associations is now a real possibility.  He certainly has strong credentials to achieve this ambition – Dorinson previously worked as a spokesperson for the Morongo Association.  Interestingly, there seems to be a complete lack of rancor about his departure from that position: he was “let go” by COPA but maintains that it was a pragmatic decision borne of a budget cut and that he left on good terms.  He subsequently threw his weight behind the Poker Voters of America because he remains committed to pushing for the legalization of online poker.
 
Dorinson is a veteran of Californian state politics, serving on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s press staff during the campaign to become Governor and playing a leading role during the 1990s in the Independent System Operator, the manager of California’s electricity grid.

He regards the New Jersey development as a valuable impetus to spur the supporters of online poker on in California.  And, he insists, these now include most of the tribes and card rooms in the state, who have realized that internet poker – far from threatening their bricks-and-mortar establishments – is likely to help them prosper.

The coming weeks and months will reveal whether a New Jersey Effect has indeed got some wind into its sails; but with Californian politicians looking for ways of raising revenue without increasing taxes, the prospects for online poker look better than they have for a very long time.