Home / Poker News May 2012 / The Poker Grapevine – Online Poker Poll in California
The Poker Grapevine – Online Poker Poll in California
Posted by: James Carter. - Thu, 2012-05-31 13:36
California has been on the list of states considering the legalization and the regulation of online poker for a while. Thus far, it has been quite unclear though exactly how the electorate felt about the issue. USC Dornsife have therefore conducted a poll between May 17 and May 21, questioning more than 1,000 voters on how they felt about the prospects of legal online poker in their state. The poll didn’t lead to particularly spectacular breakthrough in the matter, although it did show that the cause of legal
online poker was quite possibly enjoying bigger support than one would’ve thought: around 47% of those questioned said they supported the move, while the rest of the polled expressed concern regarding the problem gambling aspect that – in their view – pretty much comes with the turf with online gambling and poker. Underage gambling was also high on the list of concerns.
In February, two Democratic senators, Roderick Wright of Inglewood and Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento introduced the Internet Gambling Consumer Protection and Public-Private Partnership Act, which is basically about the regulation of real money online poker with a focus on the revenues the state would reap off the activity.
In other news: bwin.party appear dead-set on marrying social networking and real money online gambling. The sports betting and online poker giant is apparently committed to invest $50 million into a new social gaming platform over the next two years. While the move does indeed look to be a slam-dunk one at the moment, real money gaming and social networking may not be the dream hookup they currently appear to be.
In order to further their plans in this respect, bwin.party have acquired gaming developers Orneon and Velasco. An entirely new social gaming studio called Win will be created, the main task of which will be the creation of a dedicated social gaming platform.
Despite the recent Facebook IPO disaster and other warning signs that showcase the frailty of the social networking phenomenon, bwin.party have apparently bet on this horse, and they’re going for it hook line and sinker.
