Las Vegas Review-Journal – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller said Thursday he expects legislation to be introduced in the next month or so to outlaw all Internet gaming except online poker, putting a stop to what he called “the wild wild West” of gambling if every state were allowed to operate online games of chance that compete with Nevada casinos.
Heller, R-Nev., also said he believes Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, who is waging an all-out campaign to stop Internet gaming, makes some good points, including how widespread online gambling could cause social ills and how online competition could devastate the Silver State’s gaming and tourist industry.
“I think Adelson brings up some reasonable concerns,” Heller said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board. “And to have the wild wild West as an empire of gambling for the country would have some serious social implications. And I think that’s what he’s concerned with.”
Heller said he has talked to Adelson and met with the other side, or the vast majority of gaming leaders who favor unchecked Internet gambling. Steve Wynn recently joined Adelson in opposing Internet gaming, but otherwise the two giants of the industry stand alone against the American Gaming Association.
“I think the devastation for bricks and mortar (casinos) in this state … would just be a final nail, I think, in keeping these businesses healthy,” Heller said.
Asked why he thinks most gaming properties favor Internet gambling, Heller said they think they can make money.
“These are corporate entities and they believe they can play the game,” Heller said. “They’re corporate entities. They’ve got to keep their shareholders happy. … They’ve made the determination that they can compete in that market.”
Heller and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., have been working together to come up with a bill to restore the Wire Act, which used to prohibit Internet gambling until the Obama administration several years ago loosened the law to allow Illinois to offer lottery tickets online. The two Nevada senators also want to carve out an exception for online poker.
“There is no daylight between where Senator Reid and and myself are on this particular issue,” Heller said.
