The supporters of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, a bill that would stop all aspects of online gambling to take place within the United States, have seen their efforts fail to progress. In efforts to move forward with a form of their old agenda, the supporters are now changing their position of sorts. Sheldon Adelson and the Las Vegas Sands have apparently realized that they have to remove themselves from the legislation in order to save face but have chosen to do so by moving their efforts towards illegal offshore gambling.
Andy Abboud, the spokesman for Adelson, recently spoke to Gambling Compliance and stated that the focus of RAWA has not changed but a way needs to be found to shut down the operators who are offering services from offshore locations. The comments were made during a discussion of Gambling Compliance noting that supporters of RAWA were refining their lobbying strategy and seemed to be shifting focus away from the prohibition of online gambling on a federal scale but towards illegal offshore sites and shutting down these operators.
Abboud still remarked on RAWA and commented that talk of not holding a hearing on the measure in way of optical reasons is ‘nonsensical’. Many see this for what it is, including the Poker Players Alliance. In a recent Tweet, the PPA stated that the shift in focus goes to show that the ban is not popular and the Las Vegas Stands is trying to disassociate.
RAWA was first introduced two years ago, in 2014, and has failed to see itself attached to a large spending bill. The bill has been unable to rally support and has changed numerous times in the hopes of gaining much needed support. Opposition to the measure in 2014 as well as the 2015 version of the House were never able to make any headway. Several groups came together to try and stop the measure, especially since options for online gambling already exist in the United States. Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey already enacted legislation and regulate successful industries. Additional states such as Pennsylvania and California are also looking into passing legislation, along with several other states.
Later on in 2015, yet another version of RAWA was created, known as the ‘lite’ version of the bill. This option would have placed a several year moratorium on the expansion of online gambling even further while a study took place but this measure also failed to gain ground.
RAWA has continued to come to face opposition with lawmakers, casino operators, online gambling brands, and the like. Not too many supporters stepped up and placed their name behind the measure in support, which is what the Las Vegas Sands and Adelson seemingly thought would happen.
This new shift to face off against illegal offshore operators may work but it will not be forgotten what Adelson and the Sands has said in regards to online gambling. Many are in agreement that offshore operations need to stop. Consumers can access these offshore sites and take part in gaming but their personal information as well as financials are not entirely secure.
While most online gaming sites are authentic, it can be easy for a beginner to be fooled and lose tons of cash. It is not necessarily smart for an individual to take part in online casino gaming at a nonregulated offshore site but it does happen. Other groups may be in agreement that changes need to be made to stop offshore operators but what exactly can be done is anyone’s guess. The tools to stop such operators seem to be lacking and no one really knows what to do in the situation when it comes to illegal gaming sites.