For more proof that Adelson doesn’t believe in the standard process of bending a politician’s ear, check out the measly $10k that Sands spent in Q4 2011 to lobby US federal politicians on gaming issues. Then compare that to Caesars Entertainment, which spent $784k in the same period, largely on the two internet poker bills that have yet to come up for a vote in the House or Senate. That sum may seem like a lot, but it’s less than the $868k Caesars handed lobbyists in Q3, and it’s only 0.35% of the $220m that Caesars lost in the last quarter, so, chump change, really. Caesars routinely leads the federal lobbying pack, with the next closest major B&M casino outfits being MGM Resorts at $150k and Boyd Gaming at $50k. Bwin.party, the remaining third of the MGM/Boyd/Pwin online poker joint venture, spent $60k. All three companies’ spending was unchanged from Q3.
Other companies digging deep include PokerStars (via Rational Entertainment Enterprises) which spent $150k (unchanged from Q3) and Betfair’s US offshoot TVG Network, which kicked in $120k (twice their Q3 spend). Intralot spent $90k (+20k from Q3), as did GTECH (–$20k) and UK online payment processors UC Group (–$10k). The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians spent $90k (half their Q3 budget), Churchill Downs spent $80k (unchanged), while California Internet Poker LLC (which counts the Bicycle Casino among its membership) spent a mere $15k.
Those purporting to be acting on behalf of the gaming industry were also big spenders. The American Gaming Association spent $511k (about the same as in Q3), the Poker Players Alliance splashed out $315k (+15k), while the Interactive Gaming Council, which relies on funding from PokerStars and other international operators, contributed $230k (unchanged from Q3). The American Greyhound Track Operators Association spent put in a chihuahua-sized $30k (unchanged).
All this and still no federal online poker legislation… Is the system broken, or functioning exactly as it was intended?