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Originally Posted by TheEngineer
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It's because the US is very different on gaming issues than other nations. Like Sun Tzu said, "know your enemy." If you don't understand the fight, how can you begin to think of solutions?
Rich,
I think it is widely misunderstood generally WHY/HOW the unique structure and history of gambling in the US itself has been a major roadblock to getting affirmative legislation passed, except in some rare circumstances.
Until recently, this was not a "know your enemy" issue. The basic roadblock came from the "friends" among those B&M gaming interests who have been about as protectionist and infighting an interest group as could be imagined.
In 2003 the only interested B&M parties in the US were, ironically enough Sheldon Adelson's Venetian Interactive and the MGM. Their attachment to large B&M investments left them open to regulatory restraints against their becoming operators.
Concurrently, from 2001 - 2006, Binions and Caesars built the WSOP B&M brand on traffic from offshore online poker operators, rather than becoming operators themselves. Emerging replications of that B&M/online relationship by Stations/FullTilt and Wynn/Stars was cut short by Black Friday.
At the State level, the poker community has never tapped into the very powerful, connected gaming interest of the lottery industry (Delaware being a hybrid where the Lottery controls the B&M industry.)
Sometimes your "friends" or their advisors can be your worst enemy. For example, the "poker only" strategy/tactic has proven to be self defeating. First in Nevada it is truly short-sighted, as casinos currently can offer onsite mobile betting and Statewide mobile sportsbetting. In Nevada, poker only simply makes online poker "look bad". As a result of "poker only" largely flopping, future online gaming efforts, whether lottery-driven or B&M driven, will likely relegate poker to an afterthought. (California admittedly is a wild card, ironically, poker- only MAY be passed in California precisely because it is not as important or as threatening to a possible coalition of interests as adding other igaming channels.)
Rich, the bottom line is needing to understand your "friends" in order to cobble together a viable poker strategy. Focusing on your enemies is good for defense, but a mistake and distraction in putting legislation through. What matters is the support you CAN get, not the votes/support you cannot get. The PPA deserves credit for very good defense, but, outside of football, a defense rarely puts points/runs on the board.