Sands Chairman Against USA Online Poker Regulation

While many of the powerful players in the gambling industry have come out in favor of online poker in the USA, that opinion is still far from unanimous. Nothing better shows the current divide amongst the leaders of the casino sector than the recent comments by Sheldon Adelson, Chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation that he had concerns about the issue, and was not in favor of federal legislation to regulate online gambling.

This opinion is contrary to that held by the American Gaming Association, the industry lobbying association that has pushed hard for regulating online poker in the United States. They, along with most of the major casino groups in Las Vegas, believe that allowing online poker is a safe compromise between attempting to prohibit all gambling and allowing full gambling on the internet, which they fear could cut into their brick-and-mortar profits.

According to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Adelson’s views come from a moral opposition to online gambling – in particular, the possibility of underage players finding ways to play on the online poker sites. In his opinion, the report said, there has not yet been enough testing done to ensure that children could not circumvent any safeguards that were put into place.

However, a Sands spokesperson made it clear that Adelson’s views were his own, and did not necessarily represent those of the Sands. In fact, the board of directors for Sands had yet to publically address the issue.

Perhaps the gambling company with the most to gain from legalized real money online poker in the USA would be Caesars Entertainment. Caesars is the owner of the World Series of Poker brand – a brand that would have wide appeal in the States. MGM Resorts has also come out in favor of online poker, signing an agreement with PartyPoker and Boyd Gaming to operate poker sites in the USA should regulatory legislation pass.