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Reid deals online poker plan
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CRAIG L. MORAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks during his visit to the Harry Allen Plant located in Apex Tuesday October 19, 2010. » Buy this photo
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has opposed online gambling in the past, has begun circulating a draft bill to legalize online poker.
If passed, the bill would benefit some of Reid's biggest backers during his recent re-election campaign, an industry analyst noted.
During his re-election campaign, one of those corporate supporters, Caesars Entertainment Corp. formerly Harrah's Entertainment Inc., was forced to defend itself after internal e-mails among casino executives and a Reid campaign staffer appeared to show the executives orchestrating an effort to get employees to vote for Reid.
Reid staffers and supporters of legalization have been touting that the bill will provide consumer protection for poker players and generate much needed federal and state tax revenues.
The draft bill would legalize only online poker; sports wagering and other forms of gaming would still be illegal.
"We have no comment on this," Reid's spokesman Tom Brede said Friday.
According to the draft of the bill obtained by the Review-Journal, Reid is considering language that would allow only existing casinos, horse tracks and slot-machine makers to operate online poker websites for the first two years after the bill passes.
The bill would also outsource oversight to state regulators and as drafted would send taxes on wagers to both federal and state governments. It also provides guidelines to websites concerning the prevention of compulsive gaming and underage wagering.
The bill as currently written has picked up support from several of the largest casino companies in Las Vegas.
"We definitely support federal licensing, regulation and taxation of Internet gaming with the revenues shared by both state and federal governments," said Rob Meyne, vice president of corporate communications at Boyd Gaming Co.
Meyne said states should have the right to opt out of offering legal online poker, but "if they choose to opt out they should loose their share of tax revenues."
Alan Feldman, a spokesman with MGM Resorts International, said for several years the company has believed online gaming should be "legalized, regulated and taxed." He said every day millions of U.S. residents are engaged in online gambling without consumer protections and no minimum standards for licensing or operations.
"There may be any number of technical or language issues with which we might disagree, but on the whole, this effort seems to us to be a comprehensive and appropriate balance between creating jobs and generating badly needed tax revenues for states and providing significant structure and rigor to the licensing and operations of online poker sites," Feldman said.
Guy Thompson, a spokesman with Caesars Entertainment, declined comment Friday, citing federal regulations following the company's recent debt-swap exchange.
But the draft bill has already drawn fire from congressional leaders.
Three House Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., seeking to delay the legislation from coming to a vote during the lame-duck session. Congress appears to be in session until Dec. 17.
"Congress should not take advantage of the young, the weak and the vulnerable in the name of new revenues to cover more government spending," Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., wrote.
Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, joined Bachus in his opposition to the draft measure.
"We are also concerned that this new rush to embrace Internet casino gambling might be partially motivated by one of the gravest sins that afflicts this Congress: desperation for more tax dollars to pay for ever-increasing federal spending."
Reaction to Reid's proposal from fellow Nevada lawmakers has been mixed.
"We are in discussion to see if this legislation can be drafted in the right way to guarantee that children are prevented from participating and so that only legitimate businesses can engage in this type of activity," Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said in a statement.
Rep. Shelley Berkley argued legalization would "open the door to new business opportunities for companies involved in gaming and other states."
"Congresswoman Berkley supports the legalization of Internet gaming and believes Congress should act now to put new regulations in place," said David Cherry, a spokesman for the Democrat. "She has also been an outspoken critic of the current ban on Internet gaming and has co-sponsored legislation that would replace the failed law now on the books."
Online gambling in the United States was banned in 2006 with the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which critics say drove online casinos offshore.
The act forced U.S. banks and credit card companies to block electronic transactions to Internet gambling businesses, prohibited the use of checks to fund online accounts and included language that Internet service providers could be required to block access and remove links to gambling websites.
"This measure seeks to correct what was approved in 2006. It's stunning to me that some in Congress believe that the status quo is acceptable," said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance in Washington, D.C.
This legislation would overturn the bill approved four years ago. The Poker Players Alliance argues the bill sent an estimated 10 million U.S. poker players to offshore sites.
What makes this effort different from previous attempts to legalize online gambling? Reid's bill has the backing of Nevada's gaming industry, according to a gaming industry analyst.
"Sen. Harry Reid is seeking agreement with vital players in Congress to attach an online poker bill, potentially within the Bush tax cut bills," said David Bain, an analyst with Sterne Agee.
Bain said major beneficiaries of an online poker bill would be Caesars Entertainment, which has been vocal in its intention to further monetize its World Series of Poker brand. MGM Resorts International possesses a database of almost 60 million people and is a well respected and trusted gaming brand, Bain said.
MGM openly supported Reid's re-election. Recently, CEO Jim Murren said that if Reid had lost re-election, an Internet gaming bill "would have been DOA for a decade."
Stephens Washington Bureau chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report. Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
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What I'm for: legal, safe, regulated US online poker. I'm for having both the servers and the companies located inside the US, and we as a country and people should benefit from the tax revenue it generates, not just foreign countries and the few. This ridiculousness has gone on far enough, as we can flip on the tv and see how pervasive online poker is and WSOP and WPT events and poker after dark and etc. and despite the UIGA act and barriers erected to Americans having the choice to play online, they are still playing online in mass.
What I'm not for: THe "15 month" freezout of all online poker which is really an attempted ban on online poker that may be 15 months, or may be 15 years, who knows?
I'm against the two year moritorium on full tilt and pokerstars before they can get a US license to operate in the US. What that really means is, Caesars Entertainment and MGM want the monopoly of US players without fair competition. I"m all for Caesars Entertainment and MGM creating sites, servers, and offering alternatives and competition. I'd love to see US players play and know that their play benefits the US taxpayer and it's nation. But the reality is if Caesars and MGM want to be successful in the online poker market, they will need the help of fulltilt and pokerstars, learn from their experiences, and benefit from their wisdom.
P.S. In Washington State, if you play online poker for money, you have just committed a felony. Yikes. Let's move into the 21st century folks.
As a news organization, please get your facts straight. Online gambling was not banned in 2006. All that happened in 2006 was a ban on financial institutions FUNDING online gambling sites. This had nothing to do with making online gaming legal or illegal.
JessW says Harry's NOT the devil. Who knew? I never called him the devil. Did anyone here? I called him a low life crooked useless poll who works for the casino execs..but..not the devil..that would be too much..maybe a skunk? or a mole, or a soul-less ghoul but never would I call him the devil. I actually respect the devil.
What somebody wants to do on the internet in the privacy of thier own home is thier own business as long as they are not infringing upon the rights of others.The government has no business making the worlds most popular online card game illegal in the first place. We are supposed to be a free country but yet we are excluded by our own government from playing in these games while other countries enjoy the privelege.Let me tell you why. Internet Poker became so huge that Uncle Sam was seething trying to figure out how he was going to get his piece of the multi-billion dollar pie.They came up with a plan to tax it. The first part of the plan was to ban it (under the guise of "for our own protection") Thanks BIG BROTHER but I prefer to make my own decisions. Remember, In a Republic everyone is thier own KING. The second part of the plan is pretending to be concerned about it and passing legislation to re-legalize it but only if they can steal a portion and call it a tax. Very crafty but they are not fooling me.The whole thing is B.S. and free citizens should just keep on playing anyway .Unconstitutional laws neither have to be obeyed nor enforced. These criminal's newest legislation will only give the appearance that thier theft is legitimate. And by the way outoftowner, Nobody voted for the louse. The elections were fixed by voter fraud. Everyone but you knows it.
I personally don't play poker. I play the slots. But, people want to gamble. Why not Nevada benefit from that?
Off shore companies have been making billions because we in the U. S. don't allow online gambling. If these suckers want to lose their money, which they will. So, what is the problem?
Why is Harry Hater so miserable?
Right now, you can walk into a casino and drop $20 or $200 or even $1,000 and maybe win $20 up to $1199 and it is strictly between you and yourself as long as you don't use a players card. Of course if you do that, none of your losses are recorded.
In online gaming, you HAVE to identify yourself everytime and every dime you invest or WIN is recorded and there is no hiding. So in the words of a loser "Need I say more." Just another way for big brother or big SIS to keep an eye on us.
@ JessW --- I agree Reid is not the devil he is just paying back his corporate masters that have kept him in power. – Oh, what would a liberal democrat call an elected official that worships their corporate master, oh yea, a republican. – Funny how much alike both party’s are and the morons (that would be you Jess) that still defend those responsible for bottoming out our country and destroying our middle class. – Stay delusional and keep your support for the traitor Reid and Reid being a continuing thug puppet for the monopolized gaming giants. – You really talk about society, have you taken a look around your city? Re-tard.
wow, again its a race to the bottom of society when looking at the RJ comments section. Reid is trying to do something to bring in tax revenue and you can only blab about how much you hate him. He could have tried to ban online gambling and you all would be bi*&(ing about that. Get a life people.. he's not the devil.
Harry the Hater sure acts and sounds like a hairless nutsack without any nuts in it. Why is Harry the Hater so hateful and vile on here? Could it be that he hasn't scored yet and only want to harrass us because he keeps striking out with the same sex? Maybe if he showed some love while trying to score a hunk at some gay bar he'd leave us a lone for awhile. I bet he isn't using very good pickup lines to score that dude of a lifetime. Harry, here is a pickup line that you can use tonight....but use a little tenderness while you ask that hunk of a dude..."May I Shove Your Stool In?"