Home / Poker News July 2008 / Online poker to be legalized in California?
Online poker to be legalized in California?
Posted by: James Carter. - Thu, 2008-07-17 07:30
Intra-state online poker may soon be legal in California- much to the dismay of local tribal gambling operators. Democratic Assemblyman Lloyd Levine introduced a bill which required a study on the possibilities as well as the legal and administrative framework which would make online poker legally possible within California. As the bill moved through though, it turned from one making mere recommendations and setting guidelines into one that would actually regulate and thus legalize online poker in the state of California. Before you get all excited let’s see what this really means from a global perspective: If the bill passes the California Bureau of Gambling Control and the California Gambling Control Commission’s joint analysis, legal online poker may indeed be implemented within California by July 1st 2009.
“Within the state of California” is the part of the statement one should focus on though. This does not mean that Californian residents will be able to play online poker on any site they want to. The operator has to be from within the state as well. Mind you, the bill tagged AB 2026 does not locally overrule the UIGEA by any means. In fact it acts within the guidelines established by the UIGEA, and it will not be in breach of any of the four federal acts which the UIGEA is based on. The stated objective of the bill is to provide California’s residents the possibility to play online poker within the existing legal framework, in a safe and honest environment.
While most of the poker and online poker world salutes Lloyd Levine’s initiative, there is opposition to the bill too. So far only the Morongo Band of Mission Indians has expressed official opposition to the bill but it is obvious that all the tribal gambling operators are against it in its current form.
Given their influence, the tribes are certainly capable of blocking the whole initiative, therefore it is necessary to get them involved as well.
Levine hopes for the bill to be passed and signed into law this fall.
