It is not uncommon for US presidential hopefuls to dig a range of issues from the grave and speak about them to gain more attention. This time, poker is becoming a popular issue amongst Democratic candidates, who are throwing their weight behind the gaming sector. Cory Booker last week said that he would support legalized online poker in the US. He was followed quickly by Andrew Yang, who said that he too fully supports legal poker in the country.

The #YangGang comes to gaming

On Saturday, October 26, Yang posted this on his Twitter account-

“Online poker is legal in 4 states. The state-by-state rules are variable and push many players to offshore sites. We should clarify the rules and make it legal in all 50 states. US players and companies would benefit and new tax revenues could be used to mitigate addiction.”

Since then, every industry enthusiast is eyeing what he has to share, and Yang didn’t disappoint. He also talked to Joey Ingram and agreed to make an appearance on his poker podcast. The date and time of the podcast have not been fixed, but it is likely to take place before the end of the year.

This could be a great way to bring national attention to the subject and gather more support around the online poker cause that could possibly be completely bipartisan. The online poker community is very excited with his tweets, which received over 34,000 likes, 1,700 comments and 5,300 retweets in under 24 hours. Some of them even thanked him for showing solidarity with their cause.

Booker did it first

However, much before Yang started hogging the limelight for his views on online poker, Senator Cory Booker said, “I support online gambling.” It is important to note that Nevada is a key swing state and several Democratic candidates came here in April 2019 to gather support for their cause. Nevada hasn’t legalized online casino games yet, but it has a legal online poker industry.

Booker said that the federal government is inhibiting how places like Reno, Atlantic City, and Vegas cannot conduct legal gambling. He was referring specifically to the Wire Act, which blocks online gaming thanks to an interpretation by the Justice Department. He also does not support the way the Justice Department is interfering with the legal rights of the state as far as online gaming is concerned. Booker is from New Jersey, the state that fought the PASPA Act to legalize gambling in the US.