The online poker bill for California has been “bagged and tagged” for 2016, leaving online poker players to wait for next year. Also, online gambling news from Ireland and the Olympics, as well as the Philippines and online gambling. This week’s special offer is from our friends at Intertops!

Brazil has a long and complicated history when it comes to gambling in general and poker in particular. The latest development, according to an article published on CardsChat*, the country has passed a law banning the playing of online poker in public. Anyone caught using their mobile device to access an online poker site while in a public space now faces a stiff fine and, in certain cases, potentially a short jail sentence. At first glance, it may seems surprising that the Brazilian government would clamp down in this way, given that the overall trend seems to have been towards…

The politics of prohibition reared its ugly head again last month when legislation was introduced to ban all Internet gambling, including the fledgling intrastate web poker industry that exists in Nevada. The bill from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is a clear play to boost the chances of his long-shot presidential campaign. Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, a Republican Party mega-donor, happens to oppose Internet gambling, including poker. Web poker was played all over the country, for real money, before sites were shut down in 2011 by the Justice Department under a flawed interpretation of the Wire Act….

Card Player – Online poker players, especially those in California, have a new enemy. Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco (1996-2004) and previously a California legislator, said last week that he is joining billionaire Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson in the latter’s quest to stop online gaming in the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported. Brown’s commitment to the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling is perplexing because of Brown’s previous work to support online poker legalization in the Golden State. Brown said he is the new national co-chair and California chair of Adelson’s coalition. “There are…

Oregon Live – When it comes to online gambling vs. legalized marijuana, Americans apparently prefer pot over poker. A new poll from Farleigh Dickinson University finds that 50 percent favor legalizing marijuana use, while 27 percent support legalizing Internet gambling in the 47 states that don’t allow it. “Right now online gambling looks to be a long shot in the court of public opinion,” Krista Jenkins, the poll’s director and a political science professor told the Associated Press. The poll comes as good news to billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who is on a crusade to get Congress to ban…

This Week in Gambling – Robert Smith, Treasurer of the CTBA Board and Chairman of the Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, will testify at the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization, during their informational hearing on Internet poker. The iPoker hearing is set for Wednesday, April 23 at 1:30 pm, in State Capitol, Room 4202. The hearing, was called by AGO Chair Isadore Hall, III, to promote a better understanding of the iPoker issue.  Two bills, AB 2291 (Jones-Sawyer) and SB 1366 (Correa), have been introduced this year that would legalize Internet poker in California.  CTBA member tribes are part of…