Comments (7) | Add a comment
House panel sets hearing on online gambling
Tools
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- A House panel plans to dig further next week into the issues surrounding Internet gambling and efforts to legalize online poker.
The subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing and trade is setting a hearing for Nov. 18, according to Capitol Hill and industry officials. A list of speakers had not been finalized.
The hearing comes on the heels of an Oct. 25 subcommittee session in which lawmakers heard familiar pros and cons of legalizing, regulating and taxing Web poker, an overseas trade that enjoys millions of participants in the United States despite U.S. government efforts to outlaw play.
The session featured testimony from Indian tribes, academics and representatives of coalitions backed by poker players and by casino companies that view online gaming as a huge moneymaker and want to operate legal domestic sites.
Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., the subcommittee chairwoman, said at the time she would schedule a follow-up to hear from state officials and possibly those from Commerce and Justice departments who oversee the Internet and enforce wagering laws.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and a handful of co-sponsors including Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., introduced a bill this summer calling for legalization and federal regulation of online poker. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is working on related legislation.
Interest was fueled further after poker advocates called on the House-Senate debt reduction "supercommittee" to include an online gaming initiative among its recommendations that are due to Congress by Thanksgiving.
Barton has said the supercommittee has the issue under consideration, although there has been no public acknowledgment or confirmation from the panel.
The House hearing will take place a day after the Senate Indian Affairs Committee meets to further examine what is at stake for tribes that operate casinos and want to break onto the Internet.
"The flurry of hearings clearly shows how momentum is building for Congress to move on this issue," said Michael Waxman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, a coalition funded by Internet business servicers.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
Trending topics:
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
It is inevitable that there will be global on line gaming. It is beyond Las Vegas's control.....
Not going to happen this time around, FastEddie is right on, Harry is on his way out,Gary Lovechecks will go BK with 22.6 bilion in bad debt, that TPG and Apallo ARE HOLDING FOR THE INVESTORS, Yea right, SELL NOW, Caesars is banking on this deal of internet poker,Hope for next year,good for the campain2012, The Las Vegas gaming market will suffer the most,Gary look what you have done,Lots of money to be made in china,you could pay your bills with all that money,now the people of LV will feel the next big blow, Steve and Sheldon are rich becuse of you. The Indians will win this one,one Nickel at a time.
Where was our Nevada Gaming Commission when Russ Hamilton was organizing UB blackjack with their approval Poker Stars which owes Nevada 500 million in gaming Tax and allowed bots to steal millions from our college students.Full Tilt to partner with Nevada Casinos with no oversight. Now they want us to trust them to oversee what exactly the outsource of Nevada Jobs they have oked Caesars and 888 and MGM and Party Poker.I just want them to be Honest.
Right now its impossible to stop collusion with online poker.they cant even stop two people on the phone cheating anyone they want. All the thieves have join the online Poker community.Have you ever wondered why not one arrest for cheating at online poker has been made.Jobs will be lost. MGM and WSOP have outsourced their Jobs and lied to Nevada officials about job creation .Party Gaming which opperates a 19.95 a month club WPT online poker company in the USA never really left the US market just changed to WPT. and this will keep them from ever getting a license if Nevada is telling the truth.Why are there no Nevada or California online poker software being built with the USA market in their forecast.I just ask everyone to be honest.
OK, "offshore" doesn't exactly describe Canada, but you know what I meant. :-)
It's interesting that they are concerned about the effect on Indian tribes. Several of the existing offshore online operations are under the auspices of Indian tribes in Canada.
HAVE THEY INFORMED GOV. SAND FOR BRAINS FROM NEVADA ? HE HAS THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL WITH HIS COMMITTEE IDEA.