Online poker rumors: Adelson flip-flop and Reid bill

Over the past week or so there has been no shortage of rumor, innuendo, and conjecture regarding a federal online poker bill. There has also been plenty of flip-flopping and flop-flipping as well, as different sources have had Las Vegas Sands Owner Sheldon Adelson (the most vocal critic when it comes to legalizing online gaming) assuming more positions than a Stop & Frisk suspect in New York City. So let’s all pump the brakes and take a look at what we know to be true, and what is being guessed at.

Sheldon Adelson’s flip-flop that never happened

Back in June Sheldon Adelson appeared in an interview with Bloomberg Business, where he blasted online gaming, basically calling it a cancer to society and vowing to fight it every step of the way (which is strong language coming from a man who spent a rumored $150 million on Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney during the 2012 Presidential campaign). Adelson’s remarks were so acerbic that the Poker Players Alliance and others fired back, with the backlash culminating with Nolan Dalla’s proposed week-long boycott of the Venetian poker room.

But then a funny thing happened this past week, when PokerNews.com Managing Editor Brett Collson tweeted the following on Friday:

Adelson has supposedly switched his position on internet poker and is now backing a federal bill with Sen. Harry Reid.

Even though Collson is not one to play loose with the facts or go off on a rumor, and while some outlets were quick to run with the story, a number of people were quick to shoot-down the claim, including Jon Ralston, who is as plugged into Nevada politics as anyone, who said:

Yes, people often get stuff wrong on the Internet. Adelson folks tell me he is as committed as ever vs. web poker: http://www.pokerupdate.com/news/law-and-legislation/adelson-changes-mind-gives-new-hope-to-federal-online-poker-in-us/ …

On  Monday, Andy Abboud, LVS Vice President of Government Relations & Community Development, posted on the Facebook page of PokerUpdate.com: “This article is not accurate. Sheldon Adelson has not changed his position.”

Harry Reid and Federal Online Poker Legislation

The Adelson rumors were going on at the same time that news of a new federal online poker push from US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was also in the works –which may have bolstered the initial Adelson gossip.  However, there has been no legislation introduced or even whispered in the Senate –all of the gossip seems to be of a second and third hand nature with little substance.