Is Caesars behind Pennsylvania’s online poker bills?

After several productive discussions regarding online gambling expansion, drafts of two online poker bills are making the rounds in the Pennsylvania legislature in the form of a memorandum looking for cosponsors.

Interestingly, the bills do not call for the comprehensive online gambling expansion that has been discussed in Pennsylvania, instead focusing on the legalization of online poker only, which has many people wondering who is behind the proposed legislation.

The most likely answer is Caesars Entertainment.

Caesars fingerprints

Pennsylvania State Senator Edwin Erickson (R-Chester) unveiled his plans to introduce a poker-only bill in the near future in late May, and just a few days later an identical companion bill was being touted by Assemblyman Nicholas Miccarelli (R-Delaware) who plans to officially introduce into the legislature in the coming weeks.

You can read a draft of Erickson’s bill here: Proposed Pennsylvania Interactive Gaming Law

The two bills are nearly identical and are believed to be the work of Caesars Entertainment. Caesars is also purported to be behind the circulating draft of a similar poker-only bill circulating at the federal level, as Jon Ralston is reporting he has it on good authority that it was written by Caesars lobbyist David Satz.  Ralston was the one who broke the story and posted the draft of the proposed federal bill.

Caesars Interactrive’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Michael Cohen confirmed the company’s transition toward the poker-only model during the recent hearing in front of the Pennsylvania Senate Committee on Community, Economic and Recreational Development, where he emphatically stated Caesars was for online poker expansion at this time, and called the company’s advocacy for online poker (not full casino gaming) a chance to “dip their toe” and a good “first step” in the process.

AGA departure behind Caesars policy shift?

Caesars new poker-only stance comes on the heels of the American Gaming Association (AGA) decision to withdraw from the online gaming debate in order to prevent continued infighting amongst its members –most notably Caesars and the Sheldon Adelson owned Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Without the backing of the AGA Caesars may be looking at poker-only as an olive branch for Adelson and the other less influential online gambling detractors.

However, based on Andy Abboud’s dismissal of poker-only as an option for online expansion during the above mentioned hearing (implying the bill could be altered at the last minute to allow for full online gambling) Adelson and Las Vegas Sands may simply choose to swat the olive branch out of Caesar’s hand.