The Press Democrat – Rival attempts to legalize Internet poker in California are underway in the Capitol, setting the stage for a lobbying and political showdown over a market worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Two measures unveiled on Feb. 21, the deadline to introduce new bills for the year, would authorize online poker websites, letting gamblers participate from anywhere they can access the Internet. Similar efforts failed last year after heated negotiations between tribal interests and lawmakers ended without an agreement on the final form of the complex legislation. This year, again, there are divisions. “There are a…

Online Poker Report – Last Thursday, PartyPoker released a new Android compatible version of its New Jersey poker room and casino. The much anticipated launch comes approximately two months after PartyPoker first released an iOS version of its NJ software. And while WSOP and 888poker beat Party to the Apple store, Party is the first major player to boast a native application for Android smartphone and tablet devices. I had a chance to download and peruse the poker version of the app, with decidedly mixed results. Unlike Apple’s App Store, Google’s Play Store weighs hefty restrictions on real-money gambling applications….

Card Player – Illinois is one of the states in the thick of online poker discussions. Some there briefly flirted with a plan for the state lottery to get into the online casino games business, but those ideas quietly faded. As anticipated, discussions have resurfaced early this year. This week, John Pappas, who is at the helm of the Poker Players Alliance, testified in front of an Illinois Senate Committee on the topic of online gaming authorization. Pappas and his group are one of the strongest advocates for online poker in the U.S. The PPA boasts 1.2 million members. Pappas,…

iGaming Business – The Florida Senate Gaming Committee has left online poker out of an expansive gaming reform bill despite calls to introduce a regulated market in the US state. According to the Onlinepokerreport.com website, the Senate Proposed Bill 7052 was released on February 24 in an attempt to reform and update the state’s gaming industry. Potential changes in the bill include the creation of a gaming control board, as well as increased authority, control and enforcement over gaming by the regulatory body. The bill also proposed authorising the governor to renegotiate the gaming compact with the Seminoles Native American…

After 1,050 days, more agonizing to some than others, more than 27,500 American poker players are finally seeing their Full Tilt Poker money in their bank accounts. The Department of Justice made Black Friday a day of infamy in the poker industry, but on this Friday, we’re one step closer to the end of a dark chapter in the history of the game. The Garden City Group, hired by the Department of Justice to manage remission payments to those who had money on FTP, made $76 million in payments early Friday morning. Players who received their money today were those…

Card Player – On Monday, the firm in charge of assisting the government with compensating victims of the old Full Tilt Poker released an update to its website. Garden City Group said that the first round of payments will come tomorrow, Feb. 28, 2014, in the form of ACH deposits. Friday’s payments will be for those who filled out all the paperwork correctly and have undisputed claims. In other words, what they thought they were owed and what GCG said they were owed matched up. Americans have been without access to the funds since April 2011. As for others who…