Sheldon Adelson Has Made More Money from Gambling Than Anyone In History
Representative Jason Chaffetz and seven other members of the U.S. House of Representatives reintroduced a measure to counter a 2011 opinion by the Justice Dapartment that limited the scope of the 1961 Federal Wire Act. If passed, the bill would effectively ban all online casino and poker gambling in the United States.
The quick introduction of the bill shows how important the legislation is to House Republicans. Jason Chaffetz is the newest chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, conferring on the Utah Republican new authority and influence in the 114th Congress. One of Chaffetz’s first acts in his new position is to help gaming executive Sheldon Adelson squelch competition for his land-based casinos.
“Massive Policy Change”
When placed the bill on the House floor, Jason Chaffetz said that the 2011 memo by the Justice Department represented “a massive policy change without debate or input from the people or their representatives“.
The memo came in response to a question by the states of New York and Illinois, on whether the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 applied only to online sports betting, or whether online casinos and poker sites also were subject to the ban imposed by the UIGEA.
2011 Justice Department Opinion
The opinion offered in 2011 overturned over 4 years of policy, by saying Internet poker rooms and casinos were not subject to the Wire Act violations. The 1961 Wire Act was passed to make it illegal to place sports wagers over the phone lines. The idea was to catch illegal bookmakers and racketeers in organized crime engaging in felonies that could be proved in a court of law. Using the Wire Act, the federal government was able to prosecute many organized criminals, who made money off of illegal betting, while also laundering money through the betting cycle.
The 2011 opinion stated that wire-broadcast casino bets and poker wagers did not exist when the Wire Act was written in 1961, so the Wire Act couldn’t possibly have outlawed such activity. From 2007 to 2011, a more liberal interpretation of the UIGEA prevailed, though, which stated casino and poker gambling over the Internet were covered by the Wire Act. Under those assumptions, provisions of the UIGEA allowed federal authorities to prosecute those who supported such transactions.
Liberal Interpretation of the Wire Act
Jason Chaffetz and his allies want a return to the more liberal interpretation of the law. They believe the lawmakers in 1961 wanted to ban all forms of wire betting, even those which did not exist at the time. That’s why they’ve called their bill the Restoration of the Wire Act, because they argue that Internet gambling was banned from 1961 until the invention of the Internet.
Critics of Anti-Online Gambling Laws
Proponents of online gambling unleashed a torrent of derision, saying anti-online gambling lawmakers are moralists trying to invade the home of American citizens, or hypocritical toadies of a single hypocritical gaming executive. It is known the biggest donor in the 2012 Presidential Election, Sheldon Adelson, is the prime mover of the Restoration of the Wire Act legislation.
John Pappas Comments
John Pappas, The Poker Players Alliance’s executive director, called for legislation to be left up to states rights. Pappas cited the three states which have legalized online gambling and mentioned this “has not led to the downfall of Western society“.
Mr. Pappas added that the Chaffetz bill is “the worst kind of crony capitalism, that favors a mega-political campaign donor over what’s in the best interest if the states and their consumers.”
Sheldon Adelson’s Influence
The bill is the brainchild of Sheldon Adelson, the gaming billionaire who made his fortune through controlling the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. At one time, Sheldon Adelson was worth $38 billion, making him the richest purveyor of gambling that has ever lived. Despite the massive wealth he’s built by taking money from gamblers, Adelson claims to be championing anti-online gambling legislation because of concern about problem gamblers.
Adelson says that online gambling is predatory, while land-based gambling is a legitimate form of entertainment. He thinks that smartphones and tablet computers will allow a generation of children to gamble online, despite safeguards which assure children won’t be able to use their parents’ accounts. During an hour-long interview at the Global Gaming Convention in October 2014, Adelson hand-waived away any suggestion that gaming technology was the equal of the electronic transaction software in other industries, which keeps children from making purchases on Amazon, Ebay, or other online vendor sites.
