According to a recent report from the Las Vegas Sun, the efforts to legalize and regulate online poker in the United States has a new and very powerful opponent, Las Vegas Sands CEO Steve Adelson.

The report says that Adelson met with American Gaming Association CEO Frank Fahrenkopf to discuss his concerns about online poker regulation, including age monitoring soft.  In the past few months, the AGA has come out in support of regulating online poker, and Fahrenkopf was one of the witnesses in the most recent House Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Commerce, and Trade’s hearing on online poker regulation.

Though the Sands are members of the AGA, Adelson still voiced his “moral opposition” to poker regulation. Though Fahrenkopf disagrees on Adelson’s stance, he told the Sands the mogul is welcome to his opinion.

“Sheldon has long had concerns about this issue, and it is perfectly within his right to make this decision,” Fahrenkopf said in a statement. “However, the AGA, at the direction of our board of directors, will continue to support federal legislation to allow states to license and regulate online poker.”

The reaction to Adelson’s remarks from the poker community came pouring out on Twitter and TwoPlusTwo yesterday, with many players calling for a boycott of the Venetian and Palazzo, both Sands properties.  Some players are a bit torn about how to proceed though, as the fourth annual All In for CP charity event is set to take place on Friday evening.  The event raises money for research for a cure to cerebral palsy.  This year’s event is sponsored by Simpsons creator Sam Simon and is said to have over 100 confirmed participants already. Christian Harder Tweeted about the dilemma via his @realcharder30 account, suggesting to support the charity event, but not play in the poker room.

Adelson’s opposition to potential online poker legislation may seem surprising considering the Venetian partnered with PokerStars for a North American Poker Tour event back in 2010.  While Adelson has informed Sen John Kyl about his opposition to potential legislation, several other major companies in Vegas like Caesars Entertainment remain in support of bringing online poker back to the United States.

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