US decision against online gambling appeases Adelson’s casino empire

AS the US online gambling industry feels the seismic quakes emanating from the Justice Department’s recent opinion on the implementation of the Federal Wire Act, there seems to be a familiar figure playing puppet master from behind the curtain.

Following the Justice Department’s published ‘opinion’ on the legality of online gambling last week, the famous Wall Street Journal revealed that the arguments used by the Government mimicked those used by the notorious Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson, the CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, has been the most vocal opponent of online gambling since the rise of the industry more than a decade ago.

• Learn more about the gambling laws and history of each US state here.

The casino magnate, one of President Donald Trump’s biggest donors on his 2016 campaign trail, may be incredibly-tough to lay eyes on, but clearly has influence in the nation’s highest office.

The online gambling industry, particularly the blossoming online sports betting industry, is a certain threat to the bricks and mortar casino empire that Adelson and his fellow owners helped to build.

After holding the online industry at bay for years — after it had spread around the world — the Barack Obama-led US Government ruled in 2011 that online gambling (when not related to sports) did not violate federal law.

Now, that has all changed.

The US Justice Department has reversed that decision, putting the legality of wagering online in doubt.

The decision is expected to be fought out in court for years to come.

Will Adelson’s influence win out?

For now, it seems that the man, one of the rare few who shares Donald Trump’s hair cut, will get what he wants.