Online Poker: You Wynn Some, You Lose Some

It wasn’t too long ago that the queen of poker, Annie Duke called Steve Wynn, billionaire owner of  the Las Vegas based Wynn Resorts, NOT a friend of online poker. In 2009, she was quoted as saying: “Steve Wynn keeps coming up as the only major casino owner still against online poker. Consider that when deciding where to gamble in Vegas.”

What a difference two years can make! This week, it was announced that Mr. Wynn has signed an important strategic partnership with none other than the giant online poker brand, Poker Stars. It seems that the two will be pushing very hard for the legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States, with the hope of seeing major changes on a federal level. If and when this happens, the next step in their alliance will be the creation of a jointly run online poker site, to be known as PokerStarsWynn.com.

“After much study, we are convinced that the lack of regulation of internet gambling in the United States much change,” said Wynn in a dramatic press release this weekend. He said that we need to recognize that this activity is occurring, and that the law enforcement agencies simply cannot do anything to stop it.  “As a company that has safely conducted gambling in the US for more than 40 years, we believe that the same can be done for poker on the internet,” he said.

He also noted that it is time for the thousands of jobs created by the online poker business, as well as the potentially significant poker dollars, be returned to US shores.

Poker Stars also added its two cents to the statement and said that the group has long supported the enactment of local regulatory regimes that protect the consumer and, at the same time, provides valuable revenues and taxes to the government.  Mark Scheinberg, the founder of Poker Stars, noted that he was excited about the deal signed with Wynn Resorts.

As more and more major corporations see the logic in introducing a legalized and regulated online poker industry in the US, it is hoped that changes will made on a federal level very soon.