December 15,2011 : CHRISTMAS WISH LIST ON INTERNET POKER
Las Vegas publisher sends anti-internet poker casino mogul his wish list
The controversial and widely publicised rejection of legalised online poker in the US by land casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has been followed by a wish list from an influential Las Vegas media publisher, Brian Greenspun.
Greenspun is president and editor of the respected Nevada newspaper the Las Vegas Sun, and in a recent editorial he was upfront about Adelson's opinion and his own wish list, writing:
“The Internet poker industry is here to stay so either the federal government figures out how to regulate it and tax it or the 50 state governments will do it for them.
"Right now plenty of states are waiting to make it legal. State lotteries are figuring out how they can reap the benefits of Internet gaming — not just poker. And there are any number of jurisdictions there [that] will get it wrong.
"I wish Sheldon could understand why it is better for the federal government to regulate the industry and why it is better for the state of Nevada, and perhaps just a few others, to take the lead on licensing and regulation.
"There are thousands of jobs to be created in Nevada and millions of dollars to be made by the gaming companies, which employ Nevadans.
"I wish Sheldon could understand that there are hundreds of thousands of Nevadans who make their livings in this state; who don’t have Asia to promise them vast riches and who must find the ways and means to thrive right here at home.
"And I wish he understood that the technology available on the Internet is very good and uses active measures to prevent underage gambling. Although it’s not perfect, neither are the methods used by brick-and-mortar businesses.
"I know if he understood all of that, his wish for a healthy Nevada would be the same as mine."