Senators Still Pursue Online Gambling Ban

It has been a while since we heard from Senator Lindsey Graham (R – S.C.) about trying an online gambling ban in the United States, so I suppose it was about time for him to try to revive his dead horse. Last week, Graham and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D – CA) sent a letter to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, asking him to reverse the Wire Act clarification issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2011, a decision which would effectively make online gambling completely illegal in the U.S. As readers may remember, the Wire…

Adelson “Bribes” US Senate for Online Gambling Agenda

Sheldon Adelson is a Republican “mega donor” and hates online gambling. On the surface, there’s nothing necessarily unusual about his donation, made public this month, of $20 million to a GOP super PAC called the Senate Leadership Fund. His recent donation of $25 million to the Trump campaign makes him the biggest donor of either party of the 2016 election cycle, even if it was short of the $100 million he initially pledged. Over the years he has contributed well over nine figures to Republican causes. But eyebrows were raised at the Washington Post this week by the timing of…

Online Poker Passes New York Senate Finance Committee

On Thursday morning, the New York Senate Finance Committee quickly passed Senator John Bonacic’s online poker legalization bill, S5302. The bill will now head to the Senate floor for future consideration. Momentum of any kind is certainly welcome. But based on the comments of a key figure in the New York Assembly, as well as the lack of public hearings on the topic, online poker legalization in the Empire State appears to be a long shot. In a column at LegalSportsReport.com, Dustin Gouker reported Assemblyman Gary Pretlow was “pessimistic” when it comes to online poker this session. And Pretlow would…

American sports betting

Single-Game Sports Betting Dies in Canadian Senate

Canada’s single-game sports betting bill is as dead as a doornail. Canada’s Senate adjourned for the summer on Tuesday without holding a third reading or a vote on C-290, the bill that would have allowed Canadians to make single-game sports wagers with their provincial lottery corporations. With a federal election scheduled for this fall, all legislation not yet approved officially dies on the order paper. Under Canada’s Criminal Code, the lottery monopolies are limited to offering parlay sports wagers. NDP Member of Parliament Joe Comartin, whose Windsor constituency includes a Caesars casino that would love to add a proper sportsbook,…