American Gaming Association Spent Over $600K Lobbying for Internet Poker

Written by:
Ace King
Published on:
Aug/12/2011
American Gaming Association Lobbying

It was revealed publicly Friday that the powerful American Gaming Association (AGA) spent $641,621.09 lobbying the federal government in the second quarter on issues related to the legalization of Internet poker.

The second quarter represented “Black Friday” (April 15) when three of the largest online poker room executives were charged with money laundering and bank fraud in connection with misrepresenting gambling funds as transactions for golf balls and dog food.  All three rooms, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and UB.com, were forced to make an abrupt exit from the US market.  Two of these companies, Stars and FTP, had previously announced partnership arrangements with established Vegas casino operators including Wynn and Stations. 

AGA increased its lobbying efforts by $281,015.61 from last year’s second quarter numbers. 

The Washington, D.C., industry group for commercial casino companies lobbied Congress on visa reform issues, off-reservation gaming and other matters.

The American Gaming Association disclosed its lobbying in a form filed July 14 with the House clerk's office.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com

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