Reno Gazette Notes Reid’s “Worrying” Pro Online Poker Stance
Written by Renee K | Friday, August 27th, 2010
The issue of the legalization of online poker in the United States made headlines in the industry again this week, following an article published by the Reno Gazette. The piece focused on the pro-poker stance of US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and how this was seeing as “worrying” by a number of land gambling tycoons.
These executives were quoted as saying that they were disturbed by Reid’s statement that he would support the legalization online poker in the United States, as this type of law would pose a direct threat to their own businesses.
The article did not name the executives, although it did confirm that in a special meeting held earlier this month in Vegas, Reid noted that he would back online poker legalization although he would not go any further than that. As such, Reid was saying that he would not support any other form of gaming besides poker.
Reid has never made it publicly clear regarding his position on the legalization of online poker, although actions by the Majority Leader have led many to believe that he backs Barney Frank’s HR2267. Reid recently supported the delay of the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
On the other hand, Reid’s Nevada press secretary said that he would never do anything to endanger jobs in the state.
While the majority of land gambling executives are understandably worried about the legalization of online poker in the US, some are seeing the situation in a more realistic light.
Jan Jones, former Vegas mayor and senior vice president at Harrah’s said that, in her opinion, online poker would help the land market expand. “If you look at the businesses that are surviving today, they approach their customers in three ways,” said Jones. “One is brick and mortar. One is direct marketing sales, and the other is internet.”
“In the gaming industry, we need to realize, where are the X-Y generation customers? They are all on the Internet. That is where they play. That is where they congregate, and if we don’t leverage the Internet, then we run the risk of becoming an old person’s entertainment,” concluded Jones.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
