US senator aims to KO online gaming with new bill
Poker lobby suggests Sheldon Adelson is behind efforts which would see closure of New Jersey and Delaware online gaming markets
Arkansas senator Tom Cotton has filed a new bill in Washington that would seek to restore a federal ban on online gambling.
Bill S.3376 has not been fully written, but its stated purpose is: “To ensure the integrity of laws enacted to prevent the use of financial instruments for funding or operating online casinos are not undermined by legal opinions not carrying the force of law issued by Federal Government lawyers.”
Specifically, the bill seeks to expunge a 2011 decision by the Department of Justice to apply the Wire Act to sports betting and exempt other forms of online gambling.
If passed, the bill would likely result in the closure of the country’s regulated online gaming markets in New Jersey and Delaware, as well as prevent any further states from opening up.
Several experts have labelled the bill as another version of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), which failed to pass in 2015 and so far in 2016.
Cotton’s bill has been filed with the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, meaning it is eligible for debate and potentially a vote. It could also be added as a “rider” to another bill making its way through the Senate.
Rich Muny of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), which first noticed the bill, said: “Cotton is a strident online poker opponent. He co-sponsors RAWA and is now taking a shot at the Department of Justice interpretation of the Wire Act. Adelson is still spending a lot on lobbying for an online poker ban. And with Senator Reid retiring, it seems like this year’s lame duck session will see a big push from Adelson for a ban.”
The PPA also tweeted that S.3376 was “odd bill” and needed to be “defeated soundly”.
Cotton is not known to have any formal links with Sheldon Adelson, but has been described as “an uber hawk” and “ultra conservative” by political media.