Last week, the U.S. House Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee held a hearing addressing the current state of internet gambling in the USA. Among the half-dozen witnesses in attendance was Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas (pictured), who sat down with PocketFives to recap the fallout from the hearing.

PocketFives: What were your general thoughts on the hearing?

John Pappas: Our goal for the hearing was to make sure lawmakers weren’t leaving it thinking that internet gaming is something that’s bad for society and should be stamped out, but rather that it should be licensed and regulated. Leading up to that hearing, there was a lot of legitimate concern that the hearing was a setup for Sheldon Adelson and the Sands Corporation to push their platform out.

PocketFives: The Subcommittee’s Ranking Member, Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), called the Sands’ witness at the hearing “hypocritical.” Were you surprised at that comment?

John Pappas: I wasn’t too surprised. Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) also dove into the subject, made slides, and put them up on the screen to show the crowd that Sands is promoting mobile gaming on its properties. It was natural that some lawmakers would want to point out the hypocrisy. The Sands’ testimony was literally Andrew Abboud pointing to a mobile device talking about turning every phone into a casino, yet for some reason it’s okay if mobile gaming is done at a Sands property.

PocketFives: Another hot topic that came up was whether a future Department of Justice could reinterpret the Wire Act to rid the U.S. of internet gambling. Is that a possibility?

John Pappas: I don’t think it’s a realistic possibility. The decision made by the DOJ to release that decision in 2011 was based on firm case law. There’s no firm case law in the other direction. There’s no case law that suggests internet wagering violates the Wire Act, so they’d have no grounds to reverse the decision.

PocketFives: What are the PPA’s goals for 2014?

John Pappas: We’d like to see continued momentum at the Federal level. I’ve been a real skeptic since our failed effort in 2012 that a Federal bill was possible, but we have the attention of lawmakers now that something should be done. This could also accelerate efforts in other areas. For example, many states are recognizing that they should get out in front of internet gambling before the Feds do something.

We’d still like to move a Federal bill that addresses online poker, though. In U.S. regulated markets, liquidity is such an important factor in order for poker to be successful. Having any way to get states to work together would be great for poker. We have been talking with Nevada and New Jersey about interstate games, but it’s not as easy as people think. You can’t just flip a switch.

PocketFives: Talk about the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement suspending its review of PokerStars’ online gaming applicationfor two years.

John Pappas: It’s disappointing that PokerStars is being left out of the New Jersey market at this stage. They certainly would have positioned Atlantic City as the preeminent leader for online poker and elevated Atlantic City into a popular live poker destination. They have one of the most well-known and popular online brands and have done a great job of leveraging that into live events around the world. We’re hopeful that whatever issues need to be resolved can be resolved.

Visit ThePPA.org for more details on the Poker Players Alliance.

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