Sheldon Adelson Retains Hope for his Online Gambling Ban Bill

As the date for a Judiciary Committee hearing comes closer, Sheldon Adelson grows restless in his pursuit to ban internet gambling in the US.

Sheldon Adelson is the chairman and CEO of the popular gaming center Las Vegas Sands, who has racked up a fortune of $37 billion with his successful casino business. However the onset of internet gambling in the US has caused Adelson to start a fervent battle against the new way of gaming and has lead the charge on reversing the legalization of the business as he is convinced that it will have detrimental consequences to everyone involved.

For over a year now the billionaire casino owner has worked hard on gaining the necessary political support so that the government would consider passing an online gambling ban bill (HR 4301). There are still many aspects to for the House Judiciary Committee to consider in regards to the bill, but gambling news reports that there still may be hope for Adelson and his advocates as the closing date for a hearing approaches.

Adelson hopes to get public support for his efforts

Since late 2011 Adelson has been very public and did not shy away from media outlets to express his negative views on internet gaming. Some months back the prominent businessman voiced his opinion on online gambling at G2E 2014 and how detrimental it could be not just to his casino businesses and traditional gambling in general, but also to the society as a whole.

• Adelson believes online gambling could hurt many people’s live

• Bill has to be approved by the Judiciary Committee

• 7% chance that it would get approved by the House

“I see no benefit, and coming from a family - the working class family, a less-than-working class... people that are going to be exploited, that are going to be abused the most.” He stressed that he identifies with those people as they remind him of his parents and does not want ot see them suffer due to the issue at hand. “I don't want those people to get abused. Because when I look at people like that, I see the faces of my parents.”

With recent victories in the mid-term elections, the Republican Party has been invigorated which has led to reports suggesting about an imminent hearing with the all-important Judiciary Committee on the matter of the banning bill on mobile casinos. Adelson initiated the first wave which propelled Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz to launch the HR 4301 bill (online gambling ban) in March and is now set to be presented at the hearing.

Many political experts have expressed their skepticism about the realistic chances of the bill being passed with the Committee so that it could proceed to the House floor, while others remain hopeful of its success. There are a total of 39 members of the Judiciary Committee and the bill must be approved by them before it can be set as a serious agenda to be considered by the House.

Half of 19 sponsors of the bill are Judiciary members

There have been wide reports that the first nine sponsors of the bill (also known as the Restoration of America’s Wire Act) have managed to grow into 19 Representatives. However, what is more interestingly is that half of those people are members of the Judiciary Committee which is chaired by Representative Bob Goodlatte, an ardent anti-internet gaming politician.

In addition, Representative Spencer Bachus is another name on the member’s list of people who strongly oppose online gambling and would like to see US gambling laws once again adopt a stance previously supported by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). Overall there are 39 members of the House Judiciary Committee, while 11 of which have now co-sponsored the internet gambling ban bill (HR 4301).

Furthermore, the fact that Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada (states with legalized online gambling) are not represented at the Judiciary Committee only reaffirms the position of anti-internet gambling members. All of this contributes to the idea why Adelson and his fellow supporters seem to be gaining ground with their online gaming ban objective.

GovTrack site claims that HR4301 has a 21 percent chance of passing the Judiciary Committee this year and afterwards a 7 percent chance of passing the House. However, the mere fact that Adelson and the politicians that share his views have gained considerable support in their efforts, suggest that the matter may be set for a serious consideration.