partypoker partner Rob Yong recently informed Poker Life Podcast host Joey Ingram that he is networking to arrange a 15-minute dialogue with Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO and powerful U.S. online gambling opponent Sheldon Adelson.
Can the UK-based Dusk Till Dawn Casino owner overcome more than a decade of friction between rival interests to gain a clearer perspective of partypoker’s chances within the artificially burdened, ultra ring-fenced, regulated U.S. online poker market?
On September 20th, 2019, partypoker partner Rob Yong joined Poker Life Podcast creator Joey Ingram for a two-hour conversation that focused on communicating directly with the show’s viewers — many of whom compete for real money on the partypoker site and/or in partypokerLIVE events around the world.
Week 1 YouTube Ratings: 9,361 Views — 208 Likes, 20 Dislikes (joeingram1 YouTube Channel)
Near the beginning of the live cast, Yong shared that he had received numerous Twitter Direct Messages from the site’s players and fans, who asked the poker industry public figure why he hasn’t looked into expanding partypoker’s licensed U.S. presence beyond the state of New Jersey.
“I have a lot of people Private Message me on Twitter. They don’t realize that I’ve nothing to do with the U.S. I’m just focusing on helping our dot-com. Well, they’re like, ‘Why aren’t you working on the U.S? Why is partypoker not doing anything?’ So it just kind of stimulated me to take a peek. So that’s why I’m over here at the moment.”
Please help me get a decent view by RT to US Players : I plan on taking a very small peak at the US online poker market – out of interest – do YOU think online poker will be legal “Through some contacts of mine I’ve requested to meet him. Fifteen minutes of his time, and let’s see whether he’ll give me fifteen minutes of his time. So I have actually managed to network through and contact him to see whether he’ll give me a little bit of time. I just want to explain the difference in poker compared to other gaming like casino and sports. And there is 23 million people in America that play poker.”
“He’ll probably never meet me, but I’ve actually managed to network through to try at least request just to meet the guy for a cappuccino and try and explain to him how much of a community activity poker is. I always say about my dad… he’s eighty-two years old. He’d probably be like, not even coherent now if he wasn’t playing poker every night in my casino. It’s just such a good community and social activity. I think poker — as long as you’re playing within your limits — is like really good for people. It’s one of the things you can play at any age; any sex. Anybody can sit down at a table together and get to know new people. So I’m like really ‘pro poker’ as an activity for human beings.”
Regulated U.S. Online Poker (Current Status)
The struggle to regulate U.S. online poker has endured for nearly a decade following Black Friday 2011 — with very little to show in the form of compacted, cross-state, shared liquidity games across America. Only New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware currently offer licensed interstate online poker in the United States (exclusively via WSOP dot-com).
Pennsylvania online poker could launch as soon as this year. However, the commonwealth has already declared that it will operate its interactive gaming portfolio within a sole-state environment (meaning Pennsylvania players will not be able to compete versus opponents in NJ/NV/DE). This in observation of the USDOJ Office of Legal Counsel’s re-interpretation of the Federal Wire Act, which argues that the 1961 law applies to “all” forms of cross-state gambling.
Rob Yong-Sheldon Adelson Potential Meeting (Commentary)
The decision to reach out to longtime anti-online gambling stalwart Sheldon Adelson is sure to turn some heads in the regulated U.S. iGaming industry. It is anticipated that this head-turning will be much greater if Rob Yong’s proposed meeting with Sheldon Adelson actually takes place.
The prospects of such a meeting smoothing-over outright friction between Adelson-backed interests and the world’s largest poker site (which happens to be partypoker’s main competitor) is doubtful. Yet as Rob Yong pointed out in his conversation with Joey Ingram…
“partypoker pulled out of the U.S. market. Did the right thing. Listened to the government. Yeah? PokerStars and some other companies stayed in. Ten years later, partypoker is going to be looked upon a lot more favorably in the U.S. market when it goes back in — in terms of regulation; in terms of the players. Players know that partypoker does the right thing. So karma might come back. And I am absolutely sure that if the U.S. does open up in the future that partypoker would be the number-one online site because of what they did ten years ago by holding their hands up and saying, ‘Okay, we’ll do what you say, Mister U.S. Government.'”
It is a pretty bizarre framing, as well as very wishful thinking about the future. The number 1 operator in the US will depend on the usual things: marketing, product, market access, partnerships, etc… Will have little or nothing to do with what they did 10+ years ago.
— Adam Small (@AdamLoebSmall) September 25, 2019
If a meeting between Rob Yong and Sheldon Adelson does occur, U.S. online poker players and fans are likely to be very interested in receiving an update from the partypoker partner — specifically on what steps can be taken to broaden the current regulated cross-state U.S. online poker offering, along with what specific role partypoker may play in any future expansions.
SOCIAL MEDIA CONSIDERATION (TWITTER): @joeingram1, @rob_yong_, @partypoker
* This article is directly funded by Part Time Poker.
Read More Part Time Poker Coverage of Rob Yong and partypoker
U.S. Online Poker “Shared Liquidity” Feedback (Sep 14, 2019)
partypoker Major Changes 2019 Analysis (Aug 18, 2019)
partypoker Hand History Changes Will “Harm Honest Players,” Says Security Analyst (Jun 11, 2019)
Rob Yong partypoker: Podcast Interview Q&A (Jun 9, 2019)FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @PartTimePoker, @dhubermex, @WoernlePoker, @benefactumgames, @gonzo787
Better hurry.
— Eric Ramsey (@Eric_Ramsey) September 25, 2019
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: partypokerLIVE
