Bwin.party Director Accuses AGA Of Betraying US Online Gambling Industry

Home » Poker News » Bwin.party Director Accuses AGA Of Betraying US Online Gambling Industry

Friday, October 17th, 2014 | Written by Adam Brown

The American Gaming Association (AGA) prides itself on being the USA’s premier lobbying group for promoting and educating target audiences about the positive role commercial gambling plays in communities across the whole country.

That support even extended to the issue of online gambling, but after coming under pressure from Las Vegas Sands Corporation owner Sheldon Adelson, the organization performed a surprise U-turn on the subject earlier this year. The move was subsequently frowned upon by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), but now bwin.party Poker Director Jeffrey Haas, the 7th most powerful man in poker according to the 2014 BLUFF Power 20, has voiced his disapproval in stronger terms, stating:

“We’ve been betrayed by the AGA.. taking no position is the cheap and easy way out.”

AGA’s U-turn On Internet Gambling

What makes the AGA’s about turn on internet gambling all the more disappointing is the fact that six months earlier the group’s chief executive Geoff Freeman had come out clearly in favour on the issue, and as far back as 2013 had made the following warning to Congress:

“Make no mistake: online gaming is here to stay. The government cannot put the Internet back in the bottle. As we saw with Blockbuster and the advent of online movies, industries must adapt to consumers or be left in their wake.”

While the majority of land-based gambling operators, which broadly form the AGA, mostly offered their support for online gambling, billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and then Steve Wynn subsequently came out against the topic, a move which then forced the AGA to reverse its stance, or else face a level of controversy and infighting which ultimately could have threatened the survival of the group.

AGA’s Opposition Now Matches Adelson Rhetoric

The American Gaming Association subsequently adopted a stance on online gambling similar to that held by Sheldon Adelson’s, the USA’s chief anti-online gambling crusader, who had labeled it “a threat to our society – a toxin which all good people ought to resist.”

Bwin.party Poker Director Jeffrey Haas, however, has called the powerful gaming lobby group’s current stance on online gambling as “disappointing,” while reserving some of his harshest criticisms for Adelson and Steve Wynn specifically, likening their attitudes to those of the witch-hunters of 17th-century colonial North America.

Addressing their apparent concerns that online gambling legalization and regulation would still be unable to protect vulnerable members of society, Haas, said:

“If disruption and innovation are so important – so critical to continued success- why is the Internet so dangerous? If they were really concerned as they say, they would work with the operators and regulators to bring about more controls.”

New Jersey Failings

As the dominant force in New Jersey’s online gambling market, Bwin.party is also in the unique position of being able to shape the future of the USA’s online poker industry.

During the 2014 Global Gaming Expo held in Las Vegas recently, Jeffrey Haas also took time to voice his disappointment that the New Jersey market has so far turned out to be three to four times smaller than initially anticipated. But what particular areas need improving? According to Haas, everything including the signup process, software, marketing, and customer service.

“We need to do a better job in every area,” explained Haas. “We need to be better at everything. Every step needs to improve by 1%-4%.”

PokerStars Return To NJ?

A former employee of PokerStars, Bwin.party’s Jeffrey Haas also revealed he has mixed feelings towards a likely return of PokerStars to the New Jersey market. On the one hand, Haas says he believes PokerStars’ arrival will help raise consumer awareness for all the licensed sites currently operating in New Jersey, and that the site’s US database will also prove useful in driving online traffic up in the Garden State.

On the other hand, Jeffrey Haas has expressed resentment that while PokerStars has been absent from the US market, online poker operators have had to contend with a legion of technical problems which they have only now begun to sort out. Therefore, PokerStars will gain an advantage by looking like a well oiled machine when it does finally launch in NJ, and as Haas elaborates:

“We got these systems [KYC, geolocation, payment processing] up and running and now it’s a much smoother process.. PokerStars is going to get a free ride.”