Poker & eGaming News

Asked to predict a timetable for when real-money online poker might come to the US, Breitling said it’s “going to happen in 2013.” Breitling cited two “watershed moments” for the sector in the past seven months, including the US Department of Justice’s pre-Christmas Wire Act rethink, which Breitling said equated to a “full fledged endorsement” of states’ rights to offer online wagering other than sports betting. The other event was Nevada “continuing its leadership position” among states by issuing the nation’s first interactive gambling licenses.

 

Breitling says his company “would prefer a federal bill for poker-only,” a preference threatened by other states like Delaware and New Jersey, which were moving “super fast” to introduce “full-blown” online gambling. 

 

UFC corporate counsel Epstein, whose family owns and operates the El Cortez casino in Las Vegas, said “the education process” amongst federal politicians “is continuing.”

 

Breitling said “millions” of Americans were already playing online in “the most unsafe, unregulated environment” and thus “anything would be better than what exists today.” Breitling played the “consumer protection” card, which he said was the product of “technology, process and law.” Breitling said the “proven operators” in Nevada (like, er, himself) were the only ones who could be counted on to “respect” the regulatory “line drawn in the sand” to prevent abuses like minors playing online.

 

When Ralston brought up Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson’s vociferous opposition to online gambling over concerns that the existing technology wasn’t sufficient to block children from accessing the sites, Epstein basically called Adelson an old fogey who doesn’t understand the internet.