Quote:
Originally Posted by ivey10k
...On a side note, any word from any new revelations in New Jersey?
We're in the "retail" stage of the process. The NJ Legislature is not in session again until the end of the month, so we're meeting with individual lawmakers to discuss the i-gaming bill.
This brings up a point I hear all the time: "Why are you working for a state-level solution in NJ when a Federal solution in Washington DC would be better?" The second half of the question is correct: a Federal solution in DC
would be better, given the trans-national nature of the Internet, pooling liquidity, etc.
However, we've done our own internal "vote-counting" on this, and have gamed out the scenario on the Hill, and we've come to two conclusions:
1. While we strongly support the Frank, McDerrmott, Menendez and Wyden/Gregg bills, putting our limited financial resources behind the effort on the Hill would have a negligible affect. PPA, IGC, UC Group and Harrah's have good teams and big dollars deployed on this, and they're making as much progress as can be made on the issue. Which leads to the second point...
2. It is our belief that, despite the fantastic efforts being made by PPA, et al, in DC, that the dynamics within the Democratic caucus on the Hill make it unlikely that the House and Senate bills will come to a floor vote before the 2010 mid-term elections, without something to change the calculus. We've made a decision to double-down on New Jersey, because we believe that is the place where we can most likely get an i-gaming bill passed this year; that if we get one in NJ, then CA and FL have additional pressure to get something done; and that if states begin to take their own path, the Federal government, rather than missing the boat, will have an incentive to move the House and Senate legislation along.
Let me be clear about the above:
iMEGA in no way is being critical or non-supportive of the PPA, et al in their efforts to advance this issue on the Hill. I'm a dues-paying PPA member and a poker player. Personally, I think John Pappas has the toughest job in the industry, and ought to be given a public-service medal for the job he's doing. Getting the UIGEA extension was nothing short of a miracle.
iMEGA is simply making a cold calculation that, given our meager resources, we have to pick soft targets that can have a magnified affect, and we've decided that getting NJ to pass an i-gaming bill can have such an affect.
So, the short answer to the above question is yes, I would prefer a Federal solution, because I live 30 minutes from downtown Washington DC, and it would be much easier to go there to handle this than head four hours North of here, to Trenton, NJ, to deal with this issue. But that is the choice we've made.
Joe@iMEGA