New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak, a key advocate of internet gaming in the Garden State, has declared his opposition to a federal online gaming bill. Drafted by US Senators Jon Kyl and Harry Reid, Lesniak calls the bill ?outrageous? as it seeks to strengthen the industry in Nevada.
Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader of Nevada, and Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, have introduced the bipartisan legislation that would only authorise online poker to players located inside the US.
Nevada has already generated interest in online poker, started to issue operator licenses and the bill would give Sin City an instant monopoly, claims Lesniak.
?I think it?s outrageous that these US senators are trying to take away [online gaming] from the state of New Jersey and other states,? pronounced Lesniak, ?They want to keep it to themselves, most likely focused on Nevada, to the exclusion of our casinos in Atlantic City which need all the help they can get.?
The ?Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012? bill would also ban all other forms of inter-state and intra-state online gaming, except for lottery tickets and horseracing. It specifically aims to reduce the impact of the DoJ?s declaration of the Wire Act to allow internet gaming.
Under the bill, the US Department of Commerce would establish a new government program, the Office of Online Poker Oversight. This body would monitor both state and tribal online gaming activity and be in charge of issuing licenses to operators.
Lesniak has been working relentlessly over the past year for the US to allow intra-state online gaming, giving New Jersey the ability to rejuvenate its fledgling casino industry and eliminate the criminal element.
A New Jersey Committee passed legislation in April that would allow Atlantic City casinos to take online wagers from players and out-of-state. The bill, which has been a central government focus over the past few months, would develop a regulated environment with a key focus on technology to prevent under and anti-social gambling, as well only permitting games currently operating in the casinos.
Gaming activists in New Jersey estimate that opening online gaming would generate an income of around $200m annually for state and thousands of new jobs. Lesniak explained ?The senators in Washington would take away that opportunity and take away hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues that our casinos need.?
Preventing an online gaming industry to flourish throughout the US would also keep bricks-and-mortar operations as the core source of the nation?s gambling activity, and centralised in Las Vegas. ?We cannot let that happen,? said Lesniak.
The New Jersey Senator said he has already appealed to New Jersey?s Congressional and Senate delegations to help fight the proposed bill.
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