Republican senator to spearhead attempt to ban online gambling

The Poker Players Alliance action group reports that Sheldon Adelson’s dream of a US online gambling ban achieved by re-wording the 1961 Wire Act could be spearheaded by a Republican senator from South Carolina.

The PPA identifies the politician as Lindsey Graham, advising that he will soon introduce a proposal in the Senate that seeks to widen the scope of the Wire Act in such a way as to ban most forms of online and mobile gambling.

The PPA does not have a firm date for the introduction of the senator’s proposal, and says that so far Graham has not managed to attract a Democratic Party sponsor.

Graham is apparently vehemently opposed to online gambling, and has reportedly said that there will be no carve-out (exemption) for online poker in his motion…a position that will not sit well with the American Gaming Association and other pro-federal legalisation groups.

His approach will also find little favour with Nevada Senators Dean Heller and Harry Reid, who have reportedly collaborated on a new federal banning bill that would exempt online poker (see previous reports). Or with Representatives Peter King and Joe Barton who respectively have bills proposing the federal legalisation and licensing of online gambling in general and online poker in particular in the House.

The PPA has opined that Graham’s proposal serves no one, least of all American players and those whom Graham claims he is trying to protect. The action group has characterised the Graham initiative as a real threat to the future of US online poker.

Senator Graham is a veteran in the US Congress, having served in the House as a Representative before election to the Senate in 2003.