- The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee of Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has published the witness list for its hearing entitled “The State of Online Gaming” on December 10.
- The pro-poker lobby is headed by John Pappas from the PPA, while the anti-online gambling witnesses include Andrew Abboud from the Las Vegas Sands, and Les Bernal,National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee of Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has published the witness list for its hearing entitled “The State of Online Gaming” on December 10.
The hearing will also examine H.R. 2666, “The Internet Poker Freedom Act,” the latest federal bill to legalize online gaming sponsored by Republican Congressman Joe Barton.
The pro-legalization witnesses are headed by John Pappas, Executive Director of Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Geoff Freeman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Gaming Association (AGA) can also be expected to speak out in favor of internet gaming.
Kurt Eggert, who teaches gambling law at Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law, accepts that gambling has moved from being a disreputable activity to being a normal commercial transaction, and takes a strong consumer protection stance. The last evidence he gave before the committee in 2011 expressed concern about price disclosure, poker bots, data mining and Head Up Displays. He argued that regulation must ensure a level playing field between recreational and professional players.
Associate Professor Rachel Volberg, Ph.D. from the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts is “widely regarded as the most experienced problem gambling epidemiologist in the world.” Her testimony will have a scientific basis which may challenge both gambling advocates and opponents.
The opponents of online gambling will have a prominent voice from the gambling industry in Andrew Abboud, Vice President of Government Relations and Community Development for the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Sands’ Chairman Sheldon Adelson is now the most well publicized opponent of online gambling. He has established a powerful lobby group to try to prevent any state or federal liberalization of anti-gambling laws.
Finally, Les Bernal, the National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling is completely opposed to any form of gambling. He calls for:
…an America where no taxpayer dollar is used by government to lure citizens into gambling away their money and becoming slaves to debt; where no agency or entity of government depends on gambling to fund its activities; and where no legislature passes laws to promote, sponsor, or enable gambling in the name of economic development or raising government revenue.
The witness list looks like a textbook example of the democratic process in action. The hearing starts on Tuesday at 12:30 pm EST.
