Sheldon Adelson
While online poker is something that is loved and accepted by many, it is not going to be an easy ride to bring this to the fore in America. There are plenty of opponents who are dead set against poker getting a foothold in the country and this means that there are many battles to cross. There are already some bogey men characters for pokers in America to look out for and none are bigger, meaner or nastier than Sheldon Adelson. This is a name that has struck fear into scores of poker players across the USA as he appears to be the man that is firmly opposed to US poker players getting the chance to play the game they love from the comfort of their own home. Hopefully, for the sake of American poker players, Adelson can be defeated but he looks to be putting up an almighty fight.
It looks as though Sheldon Adelson is preparing yet another assault on the world of online poker. This is down to the fact that he looks set to keep his promises with regards to drafting a bill that will oppose online poker. This information was first brought to light by Marco Valerio, who some of you may know from AgentMarco.com. It makes it all sound so quaint, almost like a child’s TV show, but there is big money at stake and the fun and fortunes of online poker players across the US, may find that these people may determine how they spend their spare time in years to come. Valerio uncovered that Adelson has released his draft of the Internet Gambling Control Act. This bill is one which he hopes will provide strength and support to the Federal Wire Act. The aim of this is to ensure that online gaming and gambling is banned, preventing US poker players from playing the game that they love.
Poker play could be halted if Adelson gets his wish
It is believed that the bill begins by making a request for the policy of the Wire Act which prohibits the playing of games online to be restored. The reasoning and justification behind this call is to provide more time for the general public and for Congress to consider the full impact of online gaming. This is said to have an impact on many things such as cyber-crimes, terrorism financing, fraud, money laundering, underage children playing and many other crimes. While it is important to study these matters, there are plenty of existing methods for all of these measures to be carried out and once again it looks as though an American is hiding behind the threat of terrorism to push their opinions and beliefs through. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last, so it is not as if American poker players should take this personally, it’s just that many Americans like to have a “bad man” they can blame for all of their ills. At the moment, online gaming and poker fits the bill rather nicely, which is why men like Sheldon Adelson are given so much free time and publicity to promote their views.
There are plenty of top USA poker sites which operate in a legal and law abiding manner, so it is not as if opening up the possibility for additional poker play will open the floodgates. It seems like there is a huge over-exaggeration being made to stop people playing poker from the comfort of their own home. This is a battle that is set to range on and on for a good while longer.