Steve Wynn Likes Online Poker

10/12/2012 : LAND CASINO MOGUL LIKES FEDERAL ONLINE POKER INITIATIVE
 
But online gambling in general…not so much!
 
The owner of the Wynn Resorts US land casino group, Steve Wynn, was voluble in his praise for Nevada Senator Harry Reid's efforts to legalise online poker at the federal level this week, indicating to the television talk show Ralston Reports that he prefers federal to a state-by-state legalization…and only on online poker.
 
Describing the Reid-Kyl federal initiative as "intelligent," Wynn noted that the online poker-only proposal specifically made most other forms of internet gambling illegal, clearing up any confusion.
 
"It stops other forms of gaming and makes them specifically prohibited on the internet, but it does allow poker, which is an American game," said Wynn, adding: "I think Harry is right on the bill. I think the people who are in favor of the bill have an intelligent position.”
 
Perhaps inevitably, Wynn was asked for his view on US presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Republican anti-online gambling position, but did not appear to regard this as particularly relevant, saying rather confusingly that legality was an issue for individual states!
 
Wynn, who prior to Black Friday was moving toward online poker through an alliance with Pokerstars, a venture subsequently dropped, remains in favour of internet poker and does not seem to feel threatened by the internet in terms of competition with his land enterprises.
 
“I don’t feel threatened by the internet," he told the Ralston Report. "I think that people who come to Las Vegas come for a total experience. I think playing poker on the internet is something they’re doing anyway. They’ve been doing it for years… Illegally, legally, I don’t know.
 
"But I think the debate is by and large a waste of breath at this point. I don’t think [the Reid-Kyl bill] has the legs to get through the House of Representatives at this moment. I think the problems facing our government in Washington are so much more severe, that have such a greater priority for the welfare of working people in America.”