The 2016 Presidential Election May Not Affect Online Poker

The 2016 Presidential Election will entertain, frustrate and alienate much of the population, but what this one-of-a-kind election is not likely to do is impact the future of online poker.

Republican candidate Donald Trump is a bit of a wild card, with there being reasons for him to support or oppose a federal online gaming ban. He has an endorsement from Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson, who has made it his life’s work to seek an online gambling ban. However, the two reportedly aren’t that chummy and are only aligned because of their common party. Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, wrote a letter to the state’s congressional delegates last year urging them to support the Adelson-backed Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) online gambling ban.

On the positive side, Trump has owned Atlantic City casinos, where he explored though never got involved in online gaming. He did speak out favorably for online gambling regulation five years ago to Forbes.

But an acting U.S. President has never taken a stance one way or another on internet poker and that isn’t likely to change. The truth is that presidents have a lot of issues to address and online gaming isn’t a big enough priority to register. Online gambling is far off the radar of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

The Poker Players Alliance isn’t endorsing either candidate. The only one who would truly make an impact for online poker is pipe-dream Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who spoke to PokerNews in support of online poker prior to the 2012 election.

“The reality is we don’t see anybody coming into the White House and making this a priority,” said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance. “Congress will be the real driver of any such legislation and our focus remains on having Congress continue to support the rights of states in this …

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