After seven long years of online gambling debates, California’s web poker bill AB 431 has more potential than any related measure the state has ever seen. According to the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), it could progress even further today with a vote by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Web poker bill AB 431 was introduced in February 2015 by Assemblyman Adam Gray, and made history two months later when it became the first online poker related proposal to ever go to a vote. The Assembly Governmental Organizations Committee voted in favor of AB 431 by a margin of 20-0 on April 27.

From there, it was passed on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, who held their first reading of the web poker bill yesterday. The Committee will meet again today, where the PPA is hopeful for another affirmative vote.

Yesterday evening, just hours after the Appropriations Committee adjourned, the PPA tweeted (@ppapoker):

“CA Internet #poker legislation very much alive. Approps could move bill out of Committee tmrw. Next step would be full Assembly vote. #AB431”

That message gave California’s online poker fans great hope for the future of online poker, but there are still several obstacles the legislation must overcome before it hits the Governor’s desk.

As Chris Krafcik of Gambling Compliance pointed out earlier in the day (@CKrafcik), sources had confirmed to him that “#CA #iPoker bill AB431 will clear Approps. Comm. Thurs. but will be held on Assembly floor until after June/July iPoker hearings.”

Progression of California Web Poker Bill AB 431

Having passed by a 20-0 vote in the Assembly GO Committee last month, AB 431 now needs the approval of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. If that group votes in favor of the web poker bill today, as industry analysts predict, there’s still a long road ahead for California online poker.

The next step would be for the entire Assembly to review and vote on the measure. However, as Krafcik previously stated, it will be at least two months before that happens.

There are two more web poker hearings scheduled in the California Assembly. The first is a Joint Senate/Assembly hearing on “The Legality of Internet Poker-How Prepared is California to Regulate It?”, slated for Wednesday, June 24, 2015. Next up is a GO Committee hearing in which the Assembly will debate two other web poke bills; Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s AB 9, and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer’s AB 167.

The review of those web poker measures could prove highly successful in filling in some of the blanks in AB 431, which is still considered a “shell bill” at this point. Committee members will likely pick apart the positive and negative aspects of each, inserting the legislative guidelines they are most comfortable with, such as licensing fees, tax rates, bad actor/tainted assets clauses, eligibility for horse race tracks, etc.

If all goes well up to that point, the California Senate would get ahold of the web poker bill. And if approved on a senatorial level, AB 431 would finally land atop the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown for final legislative approval. Finally, the measure would be presented to the public for a vote, and if approved, online poker would finally become legal in the state of California.

If there’s one thing Nevada’s Real Gaming poker site has never been lacking in, it’s unique promotions. The same can be said of its Memorial Day Giveaway, where free prizes will be awarded all day for achieving special hand ranks and generating enough Tier Score. Additionally, all active and retired military personnel are privy to a free $40 sign-up bonus.

The Memorial Day Giveaway at Real Gaming takes place all day today, May 25, 2015 at South Point’s online poker room, RealGaming.com. All new and existing members are welcome to participate. The more you partake in real-money poker games, the better the rewards will be.

Free $40 for Active/Retired Military at Real Gaming

Calling all active and retired military personnel – in honor of your esteemed service, Real Gaming is giving away a free $40 poker bonus. Military members who sign up a new account with the online poker room today can take advantage of this valuable promotion.

In order to claim the free $40 poker bonus, simply email a copy of your DD214 or proof of active duty to secure@realgaming.com. Once verified, your account will be credited with a $40 bonus balance.

For those who are not part of the US military, Real Gaming is giving away $20 free to all new account signups for the entire month of May.

Real Gaming Giving Away up to 1,000x Big Blind for Special Hands

Play real money poker games on any of Real Gaming’s cash tables with blinds of $0.01/$0.02 to $1/$2 to win prizes worth 10x to 1,000x the Big Blind. To claim a cash prize, players will need to go to the showdown with a specific hand rank. The following hand ranks award the corresponding prizes:

 
Note that a player may only win each Big Blind multiplier one time, but additional prizes can be awarded for repeat hand ranks. For example, if a player were to go to showdown with a Heart Straight Flush, they would receive the 500x BB prize. If the same player received that hand again, they would be awarded the next highest prize of 100x BB. All subsequent qualifying hands would award to 10x BB prize.

Also note that the pot size must reach 5x the BB in order for a player to become eligible to win a BB multiplier. All prizes will be paid in the form of a poker bonus, to be awarded within 72 hours of making the hand.

South Point Giveaways for Generating 50+ Tier Score

If ever there was a day to play your heart out at Real Gaming, Memorial Day is it. All players who generate at least 50 Tier Score (TS) on May 25 will receive a prize that can be redeemed at South Point. The more Tier Score a player earns, the more prizes they will receive.

Prizes are stackable, meaning a player who reaches the highest 250 Tier Score will receive one of each of the prizes listed. See the following prize chart for more information.

The great state of California has spent so many years debating online poker regulation without any real progress that I’ve found myself groaning each time another news story on the issue hits the presses. But this year, unlike all others, a bill has actually moved beyond the first phase of reading, and Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu and Jason Somerville are doing their part to ensure it continues to see progress.

PokerStars has lobbied hard for passage of an internet poker bill in the Golden State—preferably one that allows the world’s largest poker operator to participate—and who better to represent the campaign than two of the most popular and prolific poker pros of our time? Negreanu and Somerville have agreed to host an iPoker Awareness conference in Sacramento, California on Thursday, May 21, 2015.

The terrific twosome will kick off the event in the Compagno Room of the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento. Negreanu and Somerville will be on hand from 10am to 12 o’clock noon. All in attendance will be able to talk with the poker pros about online poker and the political side of the debate, as well as play a little online poker with them (for free-play, of course) if interested.

PokerStars chooses Crème of the Crop to Represent

PokerStars couldn’t have possibly picked a better team to represent their interests at tomorrow’s iPoker Awareness session. Anyone with any interest in live or online poker knows of Daniel Negreanu, and Jason Somerville became a more high-profile player right around the time that Nevada launched the first US-regulated online poker site in April of 2013.

Daniel Negreanu: Known for his outspoken attitude when it comes to the game of poker, Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu has 6 WSOP bracelets and 2 WPT titles. He’s considered the most affable player in the poker world, and also happens to be at the very top of the All Time Money List with $29,973,908 in live tournament cashes.

The Canadian born poker pro posted his intentions to appear at the California iPoker Awareness seminar via his Twitter feed on Tuesday. “Will be in Sacramento Thursday to talk politics and online poker on behalf of @PokerStars. Feels like the right time to get CA on board!”

Jason Somerville: While this American poker pro may not be as decorated as his fellow iPoker Awareness speaker, having just one WSOP bracelet to his name thus far (with great emphasis on the term ‘thus far’), his popularity among the online poker masses is unquestionable.

Somerville has been actively producing poker videos on YouTube since 2011, and in 2014, started up a live-streaming poker series on Twitch known as Run It Up. After his former sponsor, Ultimate Poker, shut down in Nevada last year, Somerville signed on as a member of the Team PokerStars Pros, and is now in the third season of this immensely popular Run It Up broadcasts.

Jason Somerville also mentioned his upcoming appearance at the iPoker Awareness hearing on his Twitter feed, saying he’s “excited to be heading to Sacramento tmw with @RealKidPoker to talk online poker regulation on behalf of @PokerStars!”

Perfect Timing for CA iPoker Awareness Session

PokerStars couldn’t have timed out the iPoker Awareness conference any better. It takes place just one day after today’s scheduled Joint Hearing among the Assembly GO Committee in which legislators will discuss an “Overview of Gambling in California-Legality, Authorization and Regulation”.

You can listen to the hearing live today at 1:30 PST.

The subject of Assemblyman Adam Gray’s California online poker bill, AB 431, will be high on the agenda at the hearing. After its initial reading, the measure was referred to Committee, officially making it the first such bill in California to make it to the first stage of voting. The bill received unanimous votes in favor of referral on April 27, 2015.

The Danish Gambling Authority has seen fit to approve the license application of online gaming giant Full Tilt. As such, the operator announced on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, the launch of its Danish online poker room and casino in the European region.

Full Tilt will be competing with a large market in its new Danish residence, where 113 online poker and casino licensees are already operating, including their own sister-site, PokerStars. Other major poker sites that have obtained a license to dip into Denmark’s respectable player pool include Betfair, partypoker, PKR and Unibet, just to name a few.

“We are excited that Danish players are now able to play both casino and poker games on Full Tilt,” read a statement to the press from Dominic Mansour, Managing Director at Full Tilt. He explained that the launch of the operator’s online poker platform in Denmark means that “Danish players are able to create their stories on Full Tilt and compete against players from around the world.”

Full Tilt Danish Gambling License

Obtaining a license from the Danish Gambling Authority comes with a number of regulatory standards and requirements that must be met. Along with regulatory compliance, Full Tilt was responsible for paying a license fee of DKK 250,000 (USD $37,753), and must pay an additional annual fee of anywhere from DKK 50,000 to DKK 1,500,000 ($7,500 – $227,400) in Danish taxes, depending on the amount of revenue the company generates in rake and fees from its new local player base.

Since re-launching in 2012 under the new ownership of Amaya Gaming, Full Tilt has acquired four jurisdictional licenses to operate its online poker and casino gaming website. Along with Denmark, Full Tilt is also licensed in the Isle of Man, Malta and the United Kingdom.

Based on recent revenue reports, Denmark was an easy choice for the company when seeking out a destination for its next license application. The Danish Gambling Authority reported that its domestic online gambling market harvested a total gross revenue of DKK 7.75 billion (USD $1.1 billion) in 2014. That figure represents a growth of 2% since 2013 (DKK 7.575 billion), and a 3% increase since 2012 (DKK 7.5 billion).

Full Tilt Gaming Options for Danish Players

As a result of the Full Tilt launch in Denmark, players in the European state now have access to the full range of online poker cash games and tournaments promoted by the website. These include seasonal online tournament series like FTOPS and Mini-FTOPS, as well as qualifiers to the brand’s live sponsored events, such as the International Poker Open (IPO).

Full Tilt Casino now presents Danish gamblers with the ability to log on and play the site’s collection of graphically rich online slots, baccarat, blackjack and roulette games, as well as a range of live dealer table games and multi-player games.

Full Tilt’s fast-forward cash games, known as Rush Poker, can be accessed by mobile poker players in Denmark. For the moment, Rush Poker Mobile is in beta mode, compatible with iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices with iOS 4.0 or greater installed.

California iPoker regulation has been an annual issue for the last seven years, but constant in-fighting between tribes, commercial card rooms and legislators has kept all relative bills from ever going to a vote with each legislative session. This year, the largest issue has become whether horse race tracks should be allowed to participate, and while tribes say they have enough clout to band together and prevent race tracks from participating, Union reps for the tracks say otherwise.

Barry Broad is a long-time advocate for Labor Unions in California. He is a lawyer and Managing Partner at Broad & Gusman LLP, a steadfast union lobbyist, and also happens to be a top-selling author of crime mysteries like Eve of Destruction (2008) and Requiem for the Damned (2012).

More importantly, Broad is a representative of the Teamsters and Service Employee International Union (SEIU) workers within the state’s horse racing industry.

According to Broad, there’s simply no way a California iPoker bill can gain enough traction without allowing horse race tracks to participate in a regulated online poker market. “It would be very hard to move a bill out with a two-thirds vote that doesn’t include the tracks,” said Broad.

“They’re not going to get a two-thirds vote,” Broad stated flatly. “They’re not. These are some very big unions.”

3 Groups seeking Variable California iPoker Regulation

At the moment, there are three major groups who want to see a California iPoker bill passed, and they all have different interests at heart. The Pechanga Coalition wants horse race tracks excluded, the PokerStars Coalition doesn’t care whether race tracks participates, so long as Amaya isn’t omitted under a ‘bad actors’ or ‘tainted assets’ clause, and the horse racing industry, of course, wants a slice of the pie.

Pechanga Coalition

The Pechanga Coalition is currently made up of 6 confirmed tribes that strongly oppose permitting race tracks to participate. They are standing on a long-time policy of limited gaming in the Golden State that has historically restricted the racing industry from dipping its toes into land-based casino / poker gambling.

The tribes were staunchly opposed to allowing PokerStars to operate in a California iPoker market, but may be willing to loosen up on that issue in an effort to get the PokerStars Coalition on their side versus horse race tracks.

Horse Racing Industry / Union

The horse racing industry believes it has every right to partake in a California iPoker market, and whether that’s true or not, the industry’s 50,000+ employees-strong Union will fight tooth and nail to make sure they get it. And if they don’t get it, they’ll fight to make sure no one else does either.

Broad thinks that because the race industry operates all throughout the states, with Union reps located in just about every district, having such dominant political clout could draw the PokerStars Coalition over to their side.

PokerStars Coalition

Made up of Amaya Gaming (parent of PokerStars), the Morongo Band and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and California’s three largest commercial card room, Bicycle Casino, Commerce Casino and Hawaiian Gardens, the PokerStars Coalition has one goal in mind. They have all teamed up to launch internet poker in the state, if an when it becomes legal to do so.

Members of this coalition want bad actors and tainted assets clauses to be removed from California iPoker legislation, or at least slackened enough that Amaya Gaming / PokerStars will be permitted to receive a license. However, they could become the middle man—the swing vote, if you will—in this debate, and will likely have to choose to side with either the Pechanga Coalition of horse racing industry.

Broad Says PokerStars and other Tribes will Choose Race Tracks

Believing Union opposition is simply too strong to get California iPoker passed without horse tracks, Broad says the most likely outcome will be a new alliance between the PokerStars Coalition and tracks, with three more tribes joining the ranks; the Auburn Indian Community and the Rincon and Pala Bands of Luiseno Indians.

Broad compared the Pechanga Coalition to a “paper tiger”, saying they don’t have nearly as much sway as they are making themselves out to have. He said the casinos run by the Pechanga, Agua Caliente, Viejas, and other allied tribes are “medium-sized businesses”, and are collectively “only a few tribes that are opposed to tracks.”

If PokerStars joins Pechanga, Broad believes the race tracks’ Union has enough clout to deny a two-thirds vote. On the other hand, if PokerStars and tracks team up, garnering the additional support of those other tribes, California iPoker regulation might have a chance at a two-thirds vote, with or without the support of Pechanga.

April 28, 2015 was a typical Tuesday for most of us. Professional poker player Jaime Staples was streaming a tournament on PokerStars that day via his Twitch account (PokerStaples), which was typical for him as well. But before long, something extraordinary happened. The online poker room’s famous Spin N Go lottery tournaments struck a $1,000,000 jackpot prize.

The PokerStars Makes Millionaires promotion started up again recently, and three very lucky players who had entered one of the $5 Spin N Go hyper-turbo tournaments found themselves playing for the awesome 1^st place prize of $1 million.

Staples Streams $1mm Spin N Go on Twitch

Staples got wind of the million dollar Spin N Go that was taking place and clicked his way over the to the table rail the action, bringing his Twitch fans along with him. As such, thousands of online poker enthusiasts looked on as “Bladsonpoker” of Poland, “hooomlesnurr” of Norway and  “ROliver CEO” of China took center stage to battle it out for the ultimate, 9-figure prize.

As is generally the case with hyper-turbo Spin N Go SNG’s, the action didn’t last long. It only took 7 minutes – a total of 29 hands – for a winner to emerge. That esteemed honor went to the Polish player, “Bladsonpoker”, who cashed in for an amazing $1 million prize after spending just $5 to play in the tournament.

As always, the 2^nd and 3^rd place finishers, “hooomlesnurr” and “ROliver CEO”, each received an inspiring payout of $100,000 each for their efforts, bringing the total prize pool to $1.2 million.

As the battle was unfolding, Jaime Staples commented to the thousands of viewers looking on. “This is so sick, man. Think about this: for a million dollars right now,” the poker pro exclaimed in awe.

Near the end of the tournament, with “Bladsonpoker” and “hooomlesnurr” fighting it out in heads-up, Staples criticized a decision by the eventual winner. With a single big blind remaining, “hooomlesnurr” went all-in, only to see his Polish opponent fold the pot to him. Ostensibly, Staples would have made the call, but without seeing the cards, it’s hard to say “Bladsonpoker” erred in his decision.

Taking the cautious route, the Pole was able to clinch the supreme Spin N Go victory just a few moments later. Looking down at A-2, “Bladsonpoker” called another all-in shove by the Norwegian, who held 10-7. The board played out, offering no help to either player and delivering the awesome $1,000,000 payout to “Bladsonpoker”.

Spin N Go Winner keeps Composure in Low-Cost Tourney

One can only imagine how ecstatic the Polish poker player was to have found himself sitting on a 9-figure cash, but somehow he managed to continue competing in another tournament he was already involved in before the $1 million prize notification popped up in the Spin N Go window. That other NLHE tournament had a nominal buy-in of just $4.40, yet “Bladsonpoker” remained active in it for the next 90 minutes.

The Polish online poker player has become the fifth person to ever win one million dollars in the PokerStars Makes Millionaires promotion, and only the second to win since the promo was reinstated on March 27. Online poker players still have a chance to win a million as the promotion will continue through May 24, 2015. However, the actual odds of a $5 Spin N Go hitting the $1.2mm jackpot prize pool are about 0.00003%, or 3,333,333 to 1.

Poker games have been highlighted on television since the 1970’s, but it wasn’t until the sport experienced its big boom in the early 2000’s that watching poker on TV became truly popular, especially in Europe and North American. Viewership declined around the turn of the decade, but the trend is reemerging, and a new channel, Poker Central, is set to take full advantage with Daniel Negreanu coming along for the ride.

Poker Central is a new TV channel that’s slated to take to the air sometime later this year. It will feature 24/7 broadcasts of poker events, recaps and other related news, like the great debate over online poker regulation – much like ESPN does for athletic sports. The 24/7 poker channel will deliver everything from in-depth bios of the world’s top professionals, to poker tutorials and strategic maneuvers used by the pros.

The developers of Poker Central are hoping to draw a global audience, and while poker is extremely popular in many regions of the world, it’s going to take more than international coverage of all things poker to attract the masses. With that in mind, producers sought out the most popular poker personality on Earth… Daniel Negreanu.

The Canadian poker pro has everything viewers could possibly want in representative of the poker channel. Not only is Negreanu a 6x WSOP bracelet winner and 2x WPT titlist, he has the most affable personality of any known poker pro the world over. He’s thoughtful, comical, always willing to share his knowledge of the game, and he’s devoted much of his life and wealth to philanthropy. Suffice to say, it’s damn near impossible not to like Daniel Negreanu.

It doesn’t hurt that the Canadian poker pro also happens to be the highest ranking member of poker’s all-time money list. At 40 years of age, his live tournament exploits have earned him $29,973,908, about $3.5 million more than the nearest competitor, Antonio Esfandiari. For his impressive efforts, Daniel was recognized by the Global Poker Index (GPI) as the best player of the last decade.

The team at Poker Central was thrilled to snag such a high-profile personality, as was evident by the comments of CEO Clint Stinchcomb. “We are excited to add Daniel to the Poker Central team. Daniel is a great ambassador of the game and will help take televised poker to new heights.”

Once Poker Central launches its channel, Stinchcomb said Negreanu will become a “key spokesperson” for the network. The 6x WSOP bracelet winner will be fully involved in the generation of original content for the poker channel, and will take on the role of studio analyst and commentator.

“I am thrilled to join the Poker Central team,” Negreanu said. “I can’t wait to help make 24/7 Poker a reality.”

Viewers will be delighted to know that Negreanu’s responsibilities will see him at the tables, as well. He’ll be promoting Poker Central at live events, and is already slated to partake in the $500k Super High Roller Bowl at the Aria Las Vegas in July.

With half a million on the line, Daniel will be competing alongside fellow esteemed pros, (most of which also hold a high ranking on the all-time poker money list), including Antonio Esfandiari (#2), Daniel Colman (#3), Phil Ivey (#4), Erik Seidel (#5), Sam Trickett (#6), Phil Hellmuth (#7), Scott Seiver (#8) and many more. Sponsored by Poker Central, you can view a complete list of all players registered for the $500k Super High Roller Bowl here.

Every online poker player can be classified into one of two groups – recreational players and hard core grinders; the amateurs and the pros. For Scott “Aggro Santos” Margereson, there can be no doubt which class he belongs to. The UK online poker pro just earned his third major online poker accolade by taking down the PokerStars Sunday Million, adding that honor to a pair of lucrative WCOOP Titles.

One of the highest cashes of the young Brit’s career came in the wee hours of Monday morning when “Aggro Santos” outlasted an enormous field of 6,393 competitors at the PokerStars Sunday Million. The highlight of the online poker world’s weekly tournament offerings, the Sunday Million guarantees no less than $1,000,000 in the prize pool each weekend. With so many participants eager to cough up the $200 buy-in yesterday, the prize was driven skyward to $1,278,600.

Going into the final table, Margereson was among the low stacks, taking only 6mm chips into a 9-handed competition where the leader held over 14mm. But Lady Luck graced the shoulder of the 22 year old online poker pro from the start.

From the small blind, all action was folded to him, inciting his first big move of the table as he shipped it all on J-7o. Things looked grim when the big blind, “Illraiseyou8”, called with A-Qo, but a Jack fell on the flop and breathed new life into PokerStars’ “Aggro Santos”.

As the Sunday Million progressed, Scott would personally eliminate “Illraiseyou8” in 6^th place ($40,915), followed by “JIMMY5BELLYS” in 4^th ($70,323) and “cube.com” in 3^rd ($102,288). That brought about heads-up play between Scott Margereson and fellow British poker player, “KDJAll3”.

The final duel began with KDJAll3 in the lead, but it wasn’t long before “Aggro Santos” built his stack to a superior level. With that done, it was only a matter of time before Margereson finished him off. With both all in, Scott showed A-9o to KDJAll3’s K-To. The board offered no help, giving Margereson’s Ace ultimate power at the showdown.

And with that, the PokerStars Sunday Million was over. KDJAll3 collected the 2^nd place prize of $143,842 while Aggro Santos scooped a 1^st place finish worth $194,479.

PokerStars Sunday Million final Table Results

1st Scott “Aggro Santos” Margereson – $194,479
2nd KDJAll3 – $143,842
3rd cube.com – $102,288
4th JIMMY5BELLYS – $70,323
5th dmr1001 – $53,701
6th illraiseyou8 – $40,915
7th -demis-13 – $28,129
8th TMcK69 – $15,343
9th HomeFlax.AAs – $9,909

Just Another Great Day for Aggro Santos

Scott Margereson is not your typical online poker player. According to The Hendon Mob database, he’s racked up a total of 1,277 scores in online poker tournaments alone, valued at over $2.5 million. The young British online poker pro is no stranger to 1^st place finishes, either.

In September of 2014, at just 21 years of age, he earned two Titles in PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) series. The first was a $325 WCOOP Turbo Zoom event that netted him $106k for defeating a field of more than 2,200. The second came just two days later, when he harvested the largest online poker tournament cash of his career to date for surviving a field of over 8,100 in the $215 Sunday Warm-Up (supplemented as a WCOOP event), worth a staggering $202k.

Online poker has been a legally regulated activity in the state of Nevada for two years now. Just recently, an interstate compact to share liquidity between players in Nevada and Delaware was implemented. Now, via AB 414, the state is taking steps to ensure that online poker is the only form of internet gaming shared between players across state lines.

On Friday, members of the Nevada Assembly met to discuss AB 414, a legislative measure scripted to prohibit shared liquidity compacts with other states for the purpose of any online gambling activity outside of poker.

AB 414, backed by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, was only introduced a month ago on March 19, and has moved rapidly through state legislature. It was passed by a slim margin of 23 to 17, with 2 excused from the vote.

The fate of the interstate compact measure is now in the hands of the Senate. It received its first reading in the Senate Committee on April 20 and was referred to the Committee on Judiciary. The deadline to pass the bill is May 15, 2015.

AB 414 and Online Poker in Nevada

Nevada chose to only legalize interactive peer-to-peer games (i.e. poker) when pressing for internet gaming regulation. Delaware and New Jersey took a different route, having authorized both online poker and house-banked casino games like blackjack, roulette, video poker and slots.

In early 2013, Nevada and Delaware came together in agreement on a shared liquidity deal that would see their online poker players merged into a single, networked player pool across all 888-powered operators, which include all three of Delaware’s authorized gaming sites (DelawarePark.com, DoverDowns.com and HarringtonRaceway.com) and Nevada’s WSOP.com. New Jersey has chosen to go it alone, at least for the time being, declining to share liquidity with any other states.

Of worthy note, the interstate compact signed by the governors of Nevada and Delaware took more than a year to go into effect. During all that time, no bill to prevent shared liquidity across internet house-banked games was introduced. It wasn’t until mere days before player pooling became a reality on March 24 that the measure surfaced.

Adelson’s Crusade to Stop Online Gambling

As for why Sheldon Adelson is has been so adamant about in his support of AB 414 and the need to hold interstate compacts to online poker only remains a bit of a mystery. As one reporter for CardPlayer put it, he may be “hedging his bets”.

Though not for lack of effort, the billionaire CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) has thus far been unable to reach his ultimate goal of prohibiting all forms of online gambling in the US. He’s signed countless checks of untold value, all thrown at politicians and organizations willing to support his cause. Currently, his primary focus is lobbying for the passage of a federal bill known as the Restoration of America’s Wire Act. If passed, RAWA would effectively criminalize any and all forms of internet gambling, shutting down iGaming markets in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey, as well as the online lottery sales in four other states.

It’s also worth mentioning that Nevada permits mobile betting within authorized casinos; something Mr. Adelson has taken full advantage of, despite his outward aversion to online gambling. For example, a guest of the LVS-owned Venetian Hotel can log into the casino’s mobile betting site and place wagers on sporting events, so long as the individual is physically located within the confines of the property at the time the bet is placed.

AB 414 will not affect property-restricted mobile betting, and Adelson doesn’t seem to mind profiting from that internet gambling niche one bit.

Thanks to an all-inclusive PA online gambling bill introduced by Rep. John Payne earlier this year, the Pennsylvania House Committee on Gaming Oversight—Chaired by Payne—held a public meeting yesterday to discuss the pros and cons of regulation. As usual, Sheldon Adelson’s crony, Andy Abboud, was on hand to spread trepidation throughout the room, but testimony from industry experts and technologists prevailed.

Andy Abboud churned out his all-too-common, long winded fear mongering speech, warning of the harms online gambling would bring to society, the inability to successfully thwart underage gambling or regulate the industry, and of course, Sheldon Adelson’s favorite, ‘click your mouse, lose your house’ spiel.

He even tried insinuating that the reversal of the Wire Act opinion in 2011 by the Department of Justice was bought and paid for by the gambling industry. One must wonder how many attendants of the PA online gambling hearing had to hold back audible laughter at that ridiculous implication, ironic because the federal anti-online gambling bill, RAWA, would not be circulating congress right now if it weren’t for Adelson’s deep pockets.

But one after another, witnesses at the PA online gambling hearing shot down Abboud’s arguments. Heading up that campaign was John Pappas, Director of the Poker Players Alliance, who found so many holes in Abboud’s testimony that he produced an 8-page document refuting 18 of his claims, cleverly titled “Andy Abboud’s Testimony of Myths”.

“Sands’ testimony today is a house of cards that is more about fear mongering than providing the Committee with meaningful insights on how to best protect consumers,” Pappas told the panel. “It’s clear that they are not really concerned about Pennsylvania citizens’ safety, but rather the corporation’s bottom line.

“The PPA will continue to share the facts with Pennsylvania lawmakers on why a licensed and regulated online gaming market is the best and only way to ensure citizens are protected through a system that is accountable to regulators and the government.”

The Director continued pounding away at Adelson’s crony by pointing out that his Pennsylvania casino, Sands Bethlehem, has come under fire, and penalty of fine, on multiple occasions for permitting underage patrons to gamble at the establishment. Pappas went on to highlight the fact that Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands (LVS) properties in Nevada proudly advertise mobile sports and casino gambling to visitors.

Panelists were quick to respond to the numerous accusations against Abboud’s testimony. Rep. Tina Davis, who introduced one of three PA online gambling bills in 2015, inquired of the Sands’ representative what fines LVS has paid to state regulators.

In his response, Abboud made no effort to actually answer the question. In fact, side-stepping questions became a distinct pattern for Adelson’s crony, so much so that Rep. Payne eventually reprimanded him, requesting that he keep his responses specific to the subject of each question.

A representative of geo-location service provider GeoComply, Lindsey Slater, offered a stellar hands-on presentation of how her company is able to precisely pin-point the physical location of online gambling account holders. In a real-time demonstration of the high-tech systems, she validated the supreme accuracy of the technology by identifying two internet gamers at a Starbucks in New Jersey, seated on opposite ends of the coffee shop.

“We have it pretty much down to a building level. You can see what part of Starbucks you logged in from and, yes, we also know what you did last summer,” quipped Slater.

That raised another question aimed at Abboud in regards to how the Sands’ can promote mobile betting within its Nevada casinos, yet oppose online gambling in the rest of the country. In typical fashion, he avoided giving a straight answer, but did concede to the fact that Sands is able to use geo-location technology to determine without a doubt whether players are located within the boundaries of an LVS property.

Testimonies in favor of PA online gambling continued to flow in. Michael Pollock of Spectrum Gaming Group presented the panel with successful regulatory experiences from New Jersey, David Satz of Caesars Entertainment heralded online gambling for its ability to document, monitor and audit all aspects of the games, and Chris Sheffield of Penn National Gaming proclaimed the myriad job opportunities regulation would provide the state.

Kevin Mullaly, VP of Government Relations for Gaming Laboratories International, praised the strength of the online gambling industry’s security measures, identifying them as the same form of security implemented by online banking websites and other financially driven markets.

In fact, Mullaly offered one of the most rational assessments ever made at any state or federal hearing revolved around the issue when he said, “Online gambling is simply a modernization of the delivery of content that your land-based casinos already have the legal right to offer.”

When all was said and done, it was obvious that supporters of PA online gambling clearly won the day’s battle. A second hearing to discuss PA online gambling regulation is scheduled for May 6, 2015.