As a gaggle of Republican presidential hopefuls prepare to likely embarrass themselves in tonight’s debate, one actually displayed a smidgeon of reason recently, commenting on a topic that is never brought up in any of these campaigns: online poker.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Florida Senator Marco Rubio gave some consideration to online poker this month when speaking with the LVRJ editorial board. His opinion on the matter was nowhere close to endorsing online poker, but compared to most of what extreme conservative rhetoric we hear from the Republican candidates, his words sound downright liberal. In commenting on what differentiates online poker from other forms of online gambling, Rubio said, “On the issue of Internet poker, the only difference between the poker games and the others is that it involves an element of skill associated with and compared with just a slot machine online. So that’s the one area that distinguishes it a little bit.”
Of course, that’s not the ONLY difference (poker players compete against each other, not the house, for example), but even if he didn’t hit a bullseye, at least his arrow managed to impact the target.
What makes this interesting is that he is a co-sponsor of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), the pet project of Las Vegas Sands CEO and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. RAWA aims to ban all online gambling, including poker. At 44, Rubio is one of the younger presidential candidates and as such, one would think he would have a more contemporary outlook on technology and social issues, but in co-sponsoring RAWA, he comes off as largely out of touch with the sensibilities of his generation.
But by implying that he may be amenable to a carve-out for online poker in the bill (not that we want RAWA to pass in any form), he is risking running afoul of Adelson, whose billfold Republican candidates (except for maybe Donald Trump) desperately want to access. He has given millions upon millions to candidates over the last couple elections and Rubio’s co-sponsorship of RAWA after never really having taken a strong stance against online gambling looked like an obvious way to get in Adelson’s good graces.
Las Vegas Sands Senior Vice President of Government Relations Andy Abboud, who doubles as Adelson’s personal jock holder, told the LVRJ, “There is no carve-out from the bill’s sponsors. There may be some varying opinions from the co-sponsors, but there really isn’t any push for it.”
Rubio told the LVRJ that he is “concerned about particularly (Internet gaming’s) rapid expansion in an unregulated way,” which is the nonsensical stance many opponents of online poker take, not understanding that by banning the pastime, they are encouraging that exact unregulated expansion. Maybe not a “rapid” expansion, but a much more dangerous expansion than one that is governed by specific rules and regulations.
Rubio also had a generic comment about daily fantasy sports, calling it “a new issue that we will have to grapple with and learn more about.”
He does understand that there is skill involved in DFS contests, but luck also plays a role, just like in poker.
