Last week, I shared with you news that poker public enemy #1 Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson has been lobbying the House Appropriations Committee for language hostile to online poker. Per the Adelson ban plan, since our opponents know their proposed prohibition would be crushed in an open up-or-down vote, this was to be inserted in that committee’s latest budget bill. However, due to the outstanding efforts of poker advocates and lobbyists, anti-poker Reps. Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) quickly conceded defeat and withdrew their measure without even seeking a vote! While it may seem odd that…

The Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee has passed a bill that could lead to the US state lifting a federal ban on sports betting. The Committee approved HR619 by a vote of 23-1, but the bill must pass a number of other steps before it can be adopted as state legislation. HR619 proposes the US Congress lifts a federal ban on sports betting in order to allow states in which gambling is regulated to legalise sports betting through licensed facilities. The resolution also highlights widespread illegal sports betting across the US and that a regulated market would suit all parties….

Nevada gaming regulators banned unlicensed daily fantasy sports websites from providing their product to Silver State customers, saying the activity constitutes sports wagering. In an order filed by the Gaming Control Board Thursday, the agency said daily fantasy sports websites, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, can apply for a Nevada gaming license to operate a sports pool. The Control Board issued a “cease and desist” order that bans the websites from Nevada. “Since offering daily fantasy sports in Nevada is illegal without the proper license, all unlicensed activities must ceases and desist from the date of this notice,” wrote Gaming…

An effort to ban gambling on the Internet has picked up prominent supporters in Congress, although significant obstacles remain in the way of it becoming law. The Restoration of America’s Wire Act, which would make online gaming illegal nationwide, was introduced in the Senate last week by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has pushed similar legislation before. This time, however, the bill includes a bigger name among its co-sponsors: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Rubio and Graham are contenders for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, but Rubio’s political star power — as reflected by his poll numbers — is much higher….

Even as the rise of the Internet has driven communications and economic growth to heights previously unimagined, some lawmakers are using that very explosion as pretext to expand the federal government’s power and reach in ways that threaten the delicate balance of powers inherent in our federalist system. A key example is a new piece of legislation called the “Restoration of America’s Wire Act,” or RAWA. Introduced in the House as H.R. 707 by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the bill purports simply to update the half-century-old Wire Act, originally signed by President John F. Kennedy to combat the influence of…

Billionaire Ronald Perelman, who is the chairman and largest stockholder of lottery and slot machine giant Scientific Games Corp., plans to support the presidential bid of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, despite the Republican candidate’s backing of legislation that would ban Internet gambling. Scientific Games, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, has a large interactive gaming division that operates online lotteries in the U.S. The company provides products to 39 of the 44 U.S. state-run lotteries and to 50 lottery countries. Last year, Graham and a Utah congressman to introduced legislation to ban online wagering in the U.S. The move…