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2015 Online Poker Recap: Was an Uneventful Year a Bad Thing?
The year of 2015 turned out to be a very uneventful year for online poker on the legislative front, but that actually is not such a bad thing.
Going into the year there was the hope that online poker playing would progress at the state level – especially in Pennsylvania and California but this did not happen.
However, there was also the real fear that sith loard Sheldon Adelson would undo what already was established in New Jersey, Delaware as well as Nevada. The fear that was there would be put a stop to the advancement of legalized regulated online gaming even before it got off the ground.
Sheldon used his high influence as a heavy donor for the Republicans in order to get a second house committee hearing on RAWA which was called in December with the high hopes to grab momentum for that end of the year push. He was able to get the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz to line up many witnesses that were already friendly to the bill.
Somehow, the hearing that was titled "A Casino in Every Smartphone – Law Enforcement Implications" went in a completed different direction than it was expected, even though the witnesses were drilled with tough questions.
The congressmen had prepared themselves much better this time compared to the meeting that was held in March, to recognize that fear mongering issues that were brought up by witnesses were basically concerns on unregulated online gambling, and that gambling has long been established as an issue that would be decided by the states.
We continue to follow up on all poker news, but when it comes to the numbers – they just do not lie. Maybe 2016 will come in with a bang for the world of poker, but we will have to wait and see!