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Washington • Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is attempting to legalize online poker by slipping a bill into a must-pass proposal before Congress leaves for the year. But with Republican opposition — including from Utah lawmakers — the attempt remains a long shot.

Utah and Hawaii are the only states that do not allow any form of gambling and even if Reid is successful, that's unlikely to change.

His proposal would require poker sites to block access to residents from states that haven't agreed to allow online poker. At least for the first few years, only established brick-and-mortar casinos, namely the ones that dominate Las Vegas, would be legally allowed to run poker sites in the United States.

As it stands, the lucrative — yet illegal — industry is run exclusively by websites based in places like Aruba.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, was a vocal opponent to legalizing online poker when the House held hearings on the topic earlier in the year and he said he is "vehemently opposed" to Reid's plan as well.

"The federal government is somehow sanctioning gambling, I don't think that's what our federal government should be doing," he argued.

Chaffetz also doubts that a state's ability to opt-out would really work.

"I see that as exceptionally difficult to institute," he said.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, wants nothing to do with the issue and he doubts it will succeed, but added, "It's Harry, you never know."

"Everybody knows that I don't like gambling, but on the other hand it is a legitimate business in his state," Hatch said. "Apparently he's promised some of his people in Nevada that he's going to try to do that for them, even though he probably personally finds it repugnant."

Like Hatch and Chaffetz, Reid is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which opposes gambling, and Reid has stood in opposition to online gaming in the past.

In 2005, then-LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley specifically mentioned poker in a speech, saying: "If you have never been involved in poker games or other forms of gambling, don't start. If you are involved, then quit now while you can do so."

Critics of Reid argue that he's making the late attempt to pay back some of his biggest campaign donors, such as MGM and Harrah's. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Las Vegas-based casino interests contributed $275,000 to Reid's recent campaign.

Hatch has also occasionally held fundraisers involving these casino conglomerates. He received $2,000 from MGM's political action committee recently and has taken in $5,500 from Harrah's since 2009. Only two senators have received more from Harrah's, which owns the World Series of Poker.

"Yeah, I have raised money in Nevada and I'll continue to do so," said Hatch. He says he has not been lobbied on this attempt to legalize online poker and won't be active legislatively because he is focused on other priorities, such as the ongoing tax cut fight.

"I haven't come down one way or the other on it," he said. "Other than I don't like gambling."

He said if Reid is successful in attaching it to a bill, such as the omnibus budget legislation, he might have to vote for it.

"You have to decide if you are going to support something that has elements that you don't like," he said. "There are very few bills that are just perfect for you."

Gaming industry officials have told the Las Vegas media that they are skeptical that the proposal will move forward by the end of the year.

Reid initially tried to attach his poker proposal to a bill extending tax cuts. He has given up that effort and is looking for other avenues.