Gaming Intelligence - Divisions between members over the regulation of online gambling in the US have seen the American Gaming Association (AGA) withdraw from lobbying efforts to legalise iGaming.The association's chief executive Geoff Freeman explained that it would no longer lobby in favour of online gaming and recommend that companies should work in their own separate coalitions.He said that the decision was taken in keeping with the AGA's core mission of bringing the industry together on issues of common cause. <a href="http://www.thisweekingambling.com/aga-pulls-out-of-online-gaming-fight/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook" >source</a> American Gaming Association chief executive Geoff Freeman said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Wednesday that his Las Vegas-based organization will no longer support legalization of online gambling in the US, citing a nasty split between casino operators on both sides of the issue. One of the things I've learned in this industry is we are extraordinarily competent at shooting at one another, he said. The snipers in this industry are of the highest quality, and if you let that be the focus, we'll kill each other. New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have already legalized online gambling while other states like New York and Pennsylvania are considering doing the same but federal legislation drafted by lobbyists of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson threaten to revert this trend.From the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303749904579575540551620058?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303749904579575540551620058.html" >Wall Street Journal</a>:U.S. casino giants have taken sharply different views in the debate over whether and how to regulate online gambling. Nevada heavyweights including MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp. favor legalizing online gambling while Las Vegas Sands Corp., which makes most of its money in Macau and Singapore, wants the practice banned.Casinos favoring legalization say U.S. residents are gambling online anyway so the regulations are needed. To protect consumers, MGM Resorts supports the federal legalization of Internet poker as well as state-by-state regulatory efforts, said Clark Dumont, MGM's senior vice president of corporate communications.A representative for Las Vegas Sands didn't immediately reply to requests for comment, but CEO Sheldon Adelson is leading a national lobbying effort against the practice, which he has said hurts society. On this issue, we've agreed to disagree, said Jan Jones Blackhurst, Caesars' executive vice president of communications and government relations.<a href="http://www.gambling911.com/gambling-news/american-gaming-association-drops-support-online-gambling-us-052114.html" >source</a>
