The Restoration of America’s Wire Act has been a thorn in poker players side since it was first created. Sheldon Adelson, the head of the Las Vegas Sands, had the legislation created to try and put a stop to online poker in the United States. With the bill being introduced by Representative Jason Chaffetz, the ability of playing online poker in the US would be nixed. The Poker Players Alliance is working hard to try and stop the bill from moving forward and are now currently working on a petition to hurt the bill which is moving forward to a hearing this week.
If the RAWA bill is passed, it would restore the Wire Act of 1961 to its original content. This means the bill would be stopping wagering from taking place online. The state of Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada all have legislation that allows for such activity, so if the bill is passed they would lose everything they have built. Any state also moving forward with legislation for online gambling, such as California and Pennsylvania, would also be harmed if the bill were to pass.
John Pappas the Executive Director of the PPA was set to debate the subject of online poker gaming with a member of Adelson’s camp at a recent gaming summit but the opponent was a no-show. This would suggest that Adelson’s cronies are not comfortable getting into a debate on the subject. After the no-show during the debate, the PPA continued to reiterate that they would be watching the RAWA legislation closely and take action when needed.
The RAWA bill is now going to hearing this Thursday at 9:30am. The bill will be heard in front of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. This group is part of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. To help fight the impending bill, the PPA has created petition against the bill, which was created just after the Conservative Political Action Conference which was supposed to feature the debate between Pappas and an opponent of the bill.
The PPA has been working with conservative officials who are opposed to the RAWA legislation as they feel it infringes on states’ rights. The new Petition is titled All In For Liberty and reads as follows:
To take part in signing the petition, players can visit the link here. This is just one way the PPA plans on fighting the legislation that would shut down an online gambling industry in the US. It will be interesting to see how the hearing goes later in the week and if the legislation will move forward or will be stopped in its tracks.