The Members of the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling Are...

Earl Burton · February 20, 2014

In recent weeks, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling – backed with money from Las Vegas Sands Corporation Chairman and CEOSheldon Adelson (pictured) – has been able to draw significant support. Besides the former politicians who have sided with the Coalition as lobbyists, last week saw at least 39 organizations firmly announce their support for the Coalition and its pursuit.

There is some dispute over how encompassing the organizations that have joined the Coalition are. The organization has stated that its new supporters represent a “broad-based coalition” of organizations. In last week’s Poker Players Alliance weekly newsletter, however, Rich TheEngineer Muny, Vice President of Player Relations, said that the 39 organizations were the “usual suspects” from “faith and family” based causes.

One of the members is the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Ten individual state coalitions that make up the Faith and Freedom Coalition, including such heavily populated states as California, Florida, and Texas, support Adelson’s cause. The Faith and Freedom Coalition, founded by Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed in 2009, is a non-profit organization that had a significant impact on the Republican Presidential primaries in 2012 and will feature former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as its keynote speaker for an upcoming conference in Iowa.

Two other organizations are prominently featured as supporters of the Coalition’s efforts. The American Principles Project states on its website that it is “committed to the declaration made by the Founding Fathers that we are all ‘created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'” Created by Princeton law professor Robert George, the group espouses such ideas as its pro-life advocacy and anti-gay marriage positions.

Another Coalition member is Common Sense Virginia, which supports a conservative platform and spent nearly $500,000 on ads in Virginia in an attempt to defeat Terry McAuliffe‘s Gubernatorial campaign last year.

The new supporters come on the heels of recent failures by the Coalition to draw support for its cause. A letter was circulated in January among state Attorneys General to “clarify” the Federal Government’s stance on the Wire Act of 1961, which was basically seen as a method to support a Federal ban on online gambling and poker. Only 15 Attorneys General signed onto the letter, far short of the required 36 that the petition needed to be included on the platform of the National Association of Attorneys General.

As many in the poker community remember, it was also an Adelson supporter who was shot down by a Congressional committee during a hearing about online gambling in December. Andy Abboud (pictured), an anti-online gaming witness at the hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee, was repeatedly challenged by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle about the “hypocrisy” of his stance.

The hypocrisy stemmed from the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas, among other properties, wanting a Federal ban on internet gambling, but actively courting such activity on its website and in its casinos. Consequently, the Venetian’s website was scrubbed of any mentions of online or “mobile” gambling, but has since been the subject of a cyber attack that brought the entire website down.

Here are the 39 organizations that are members of the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, according to iGaming Business:

American Principles Project
Catholic Advocate
Center for Civic Virtue
Common Sense Virginia
Concerned Women for America
Corporate Whistleblower Center
Denver Institute of Urban Studies
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Virginia
Faith and Freedom Coalition of California
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Delaware
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Florida
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Michigan
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Ohio
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Oklahoma
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Oregon
Faith and Freedom Coalition of South Carolina
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Texas
Faith and Freedom Coalition of Wisconsin
Friendship Baptist Church of Christ Jesus
Frontiers of Freedom
Indiana American Family Association
Let Freedom Ring
Liberty Counsel
Lighthouse Missionary Baptist
Louisiana Family Forum
Loving Saints Christian Fellowship
Massachusetts Family Institute
Minnesota Family Council
Missouri Family Policy Council
Network of Politically Active Christians
Pennsylvania Catholics Network
Pennsylvania Pastors Network
Rose of Sharon Tabernacle
City of Refuge Restoration Church
The Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance
The Latino Coalition
Tradition Family Property
Transforming Florida
Universal Baptist Church