The war against online poker from the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and its founder, Sheldon Adelson, ramped up this week, as PokerNews was turned away from reporting on its own sponsored MSPT event at the Venetian in Las Vegas (pictured). The Venetian, a Sands property, reportedly cited “site’s affiliation with online poker,” according to Pokerfuse.

PocketFives has verified that the PokerNews reporting team was turned away from the event at the Strip casino, although PokerNews’ Donnie Peters said he was “unsure” if online poker was the reason for the dismissal. Whether the site will be able to report on future Venetian poker events remains to be seen.

PokerNews’ Brett Collson Tweeted a statement from the Venetian regarding the incident: “Given our Chairman’s clear position on the matter of online gaming, Venetian/Palazzo made a business decision to not allow an online blog during the MSPT event.”

A post on Two Plus Two announcing the news read, “According to a reliable source, Sheldon Adelson wouldn’t allow PokerNews to report updates and chip counts from the nearly $1m MSPT Main Event currently being held at the Venetian. Apparently, a few PokerNews links to online poker were enough to cause their removal.”

Whether Adelson himself was behind the dismissal, or merely an executive at the Venetian mandated it, remains to be seen. As one poster said on Two Plus Two, “It seems a bit of a stretch to think that a billionaire CEO of a company with a bunch of properties around the world would somehow be aware that PokerNews is covering the Venetian tourney and their website has some links to online poker.”

According to Pokerfuse, “[PokerNews] reported live from the eight previous MSPT stops this season.”

Peters told PocketFives, “With each MSPT event, PokerNews Live Reporting comes as an option for the venue. Venetian decided not to pick up this option and PokerNews was given no specific reason. We are aware of Sheldon Adelson’s stance against online poker, and would like to remind everyone that his stance is a hindrance to the growth of the game we all love. PokerNews remains committed to the MSPT as the tour continues to flourish and we look forward to providing live coverage. With 12 events remaining on the 2014 MSPT schedule, we encourage all poker players to attend one of the upcoming stops.”

The PokerNews incident aside, Adelson and the Sands Corporation have waged a war against online poker since 2014 began, forming the Coalition to Stop Internet Gamblingand prompting the introduction of two bills, one by Senator Lindsey Graham and one by Congressman Jason Chaffetz, that would eradicate online poker and internet gambling from the US by clarifying the Wire Act of 1961.

His vociferousness has also reportedly caused the American Gaming Association to take a step back from championing legislation legalizing online poker in the US, instead moving to more of a backseat role.

Adelson(pictured) has pledged to spend “whatever it takes” to stop regulated internet gambling from becoming a reality in the US and the two aforementioned bills, as written, would snuff out regulated online poker sites in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. Many poker players have pledged to stay away from the Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas, both of which Adelson’s company owns and operates.

In 2010, the Venetian ironically hosted a PokerStars-backed North American Poker Tour event whose feature tournament paid out nearly $1 million.

Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest poker legislation news.

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.