It took a couple of days, but the Venetianin Las Vegas officially let the world know why it turned away PokerNews from reporting on its own sponsored Mid-States Poker Tour eventlast week. PokerNews’ Brett Collsongave the following response from the Venetian’s Kathy Raymond via Twitter: “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.”

PokerNews’ Donnie Peters originally said the reason for the dismissal was unclear, telling PocketFives earlier this week, “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 (pictured) 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.”

Ironically, you might recall that the Venetian was the host site of a PokerStars-backed North American Poker Tour stop in 2010. Raymond commented in a press release at the time that she was looking forward to working with an online poker site: “I am both pleased and excited about our new relationship with the North American Poker Tour and PokerStars.net. I believe that the Venetian poker room will serve as the perfect home to the hottest new poker tour in North America.”

Adelson, Chairman of Las Vegas Sands, has been on a crusade against the legalization of online gambling in the United States and has pledged to spend “whatever it takes” to eradicate the industry, including the legal online poker sites in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Over on Two Plus Two, founder Mason Malmuth questioned the effectiveness of a boycott of the Venetian and Palazzo, both owned by Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corporation: “We don’t think that calling for a boycott of the Venetian would accomplish anything positive. If a boycott were somehow 100% effective, in our opinion it would have no affect on Sheldon Adleson or his anti-internet poker/gambling position, but a number of worthy people would lose their jobs.”

Malmuth added that after legislation was introduced in the US Senate by Lindsey Graham (pictured) to restore the Wire Act and prohibit online gambling earlier this year, Two Plus Two informed the Venetian that the site “would not accept any more advertising from them until all these issues were resolved.”

Adelson’s stance has, in part, caused the American Gaming Association to take a step backin championing online poker legislation and instead follow a more back-seat approach. Adelson is also the brains behind the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.

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