Adelson Fallout: WSOP Champ Says ‘I Won’t Play at the Venetian This Summer at All’

2005 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Joe Hachem tweeted Thursday that he plans to boycott Sheldon Adelson’s Venetian property.  Adelson has come under fire for his public opposition to legalized online poker in the US, calling it “toxic” and a “cancer”.

Hachem tweeted:

Just for the record folks I WILL NOT play at the Venetian this summer at all!

Since Adelson made his remarks last week, the poker community has suggested a boycott of his properties, including the Venetian and Sands of Las Vegas.

Earlier in the day Thursday, the Poker Players Alliance’s (PPA) John Pappas released a statement blasting the casino mogul’s assertions that legalized Web gambling would be a blight on society.

“I think he’s missed the mark by a wide margin.  The reality is that licensed and regulated internet poker is taking place worldwide and right here in America and right here in his back yard of Nevada. All of the perceived evils have been addressed through appropriate oversight—greater oversight and regulation than what’s available in a brick-and-mortar setting. Age-verification? Protecting problem gamblers? Those can be addressed on the Internet even better than in one of Mr. Adelson’s casinos.”

- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com