Five American Indian tribes are pressing forward on Internet poker legislation in California, hoping to overcome the political clout of what some characterize as an “obstructionist” coalition of tribes led by the Pechanga and Agua Caliente Indian bands. The San Manuel and Morongo Mission Indians, the Rincon and Pala Luiseño Indians and the United Auburn Indian Community are aligned with Amaya/PokerStars and card rooms in a strong effort to get an online poker bill out of the 2015 session. The horse racing industry and its organized labor is moving on a similar but parallel track, with all the stakeholders hoping…

California online poker has quite the full house when it comes to legalization According to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, there are 89 cardrooms in 32 counties in California, and of the 110 federally recognized tribes in the state, 58 of them run 60 casinos — many of which have poker rooms. Even so, there is still a big pot of money left on the table when you consider California online poker, a game that’s currently not legal in California. Only New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have legalized Internet poker for now. Efforts to legalize web poker have been ongoing…

A California online poker bill will clear the Assembly Appropriations Committee Thursday but be held on the Assembly floor until after upcoming hearings on web poker are complete, according to sources. The one-page shell bill, AB431, is sponsored by Democrat Adam Gray. It states in part that any future Internet poker measure adopted by the legislature must protect consumers and comply with applicable state and federal law. The Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, which handles gaming issues, unanimously approved the bill last month. Its next stop is the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over fiscal matters. Sources said the Appropriations…

Online Poker Report – On the day of the session deadline for the introduction of bills, two efforts to regulate online poker in California surfaced from the legislature. The first is effectively a re-introduction of SB 678, which was backed by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. The bill number is listed as SB 1366. No sponsor is identified on the bill but I assume it’s State Sen. Lou Correa (D-34), who authored SB 678. AB 2291 is supported by a wide-ranging consortium of tribes, including the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians,…

Poker Update – The legalisation and regulation of online gaming is something that has been in the cards for the US state of California for quite some time now. A number of meetings have been undertaken between state government figures and various tribes (who operate a large number of gaming establishments in California) throughout the year. Those interactions resulted in the possibility of a proposal for the legalisation of online gaming to be put forward to the state’s congress. Such a proposal has not been passed in the state as of yet, but the Commissioner of California’s Gambling Control Commission…

From Card Player California has long been home to online poker legalization attempts, but nothing there has ever amounted to much. It has been tough to get a consensus among the tribes and other gaming interests in the state, but this year looks the most promising to date, according to one lobbyist working on the issue. David Quintana, a lobbyist for several of the tribes pushing a new piece of legislation, said that the odds are about 50-50 of something passing. There are a couple of other proposals sitting in the legislature that have hope as well. Quintana said that…

The race for more online poker legislation on American soil has become one of, hurry up and wait, for states that haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon. The recent launch of the real money internet poker business in Nevada and New Jersey’s passing of its own internet rules and regulations with Delaware is also fast approaching a launch. There are ten other states pondering the inclusion of online poker in their agendas so it’s no wonder California is finally settling one of its biggest issues. Californian poker players have been attempting to resolve the opposition they received from Indian tribes…