Published on May 8, 2014 by Susan Torres
Las Vegas Sands multi-billionaire owner Sheldon Adelson has thrown millions of greenbacks into the campaigns of political leaders around the country and is now using the ability he has built up within the system to steer the rustic towards making Internet gambling illegal on a federal level.
Not only has Adelson and his money done an exquisite job thus far at stopping the proliferation of online gambling at the state level, his ultimate goal could be to create a federal law that totally prohibits the entertainment.
One state Adelson's scary amount of power could be revealed first is in Pennsylvania. A study was ordered last year by the state and was released on Wednesday. It studied the longer term viability of online gaming within the state and concluded Pennsylvania could reap $307 million in tax revenue annually.
This projected tax revenue might be enough to excite Pennsylvania law-makers into action, however there's a catch. Adelson's Las Vegas Sands company has a casino in Pennsylvania, which was creating tax revenue for the state, and was expanding, because it opened its doors in 2009. The lobbying money Adelson has used to profit that casino already has created close relationships with lawmakers within the state, with the intention to only further help his new crusade - to forestall Internet gambling.
With such clear momentum pointing towards legalization in Pennsylvania, any turn around or stoppage of the momentum may be directly attributed to the efforts of Adelson and can go against the people's apparent desires, in addition to the state's need for tax revenue.
This situation has already bared itself in Florida, where pro-poker enthusiasts assumed the sport can be legal and taxed within the state within a pair years, post UIGEA. All efforts, however, have perceived to die with no noise within the media - ever since Adelson's Sands decided it desired to build a mega-casino in Miami.
Coincidence? Well, not really.
"It just takes some logical thinking while analyzing the numbers," consistent with Mark Lewis, Florida gaming analyst.
Governor Rick Scott is up for reelection in 2014 and has received millions of greenbacks from Adelson (contributed from Adelson to Scott's various political committees). As an indication of support by Scott, he sent out a letter to law-makers in April emphasizing the significance of keeping internet gambling from becoming legal within the state.
Adelson is using the 'hurts children and families' stance to defend his position, and thus every letter from governors to law-makers, including the only Scott sent, emphasizes that stance.
"Although that's the stance he makes to the public, his obvious desire is to give protection to his casinos on land," Lewis said. Lewis points out that during places just like the UK, where online gambling is regulated, it's been studied and proven that regulations provide more protections for kids and problem gamblers than prohibition.
"If he really cared about families and kids and the way gambling online could ruin their lives, than he would need regulations to allow them to be protected," Lewis suggested.
"One must simply have a look at where Adelson throws his money and follow the actions of the political leaders he backs to know that Adelson is the only answerable for Internet gambling's destiny," Lewis said, "the politicians are simply his puppets."
Read More... [Source: Gambling News]
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