From OSGA.com – Las Vegas casinos are still pushing for a federal online gambling law with or without an advocacy group to speak for them and last week Joe Barton reintroduced a new variation of his bill.
This time, however, the impetus for the new federal bills isn’t because an election is around the corner but rather because states are preparing to legalize both online poker and online casinos and this is a last ditch attempt to create a federal bill before the floodgates open. New Jersey already passed an online gambling bill for poker and casino games and Iowa, Massachusetts and Delaware are all prepared to legalize online poker in very short time. In Nevada, the Nevada Gaming Control Board authorized Ultimate Poker to run real money poker on a trial basis and required Ultimate Poker to provide exhaustive information to the Nevada Gaming Control Board to determine whether online poker should be allowed on a permanent basis. The trial period ended 2 weeks ago and by all accounts the Nevada Gaming Control Board was pleased with the information provided to them. Tobin Prior, the CEO of Ultimate Poker released the following statement followi ng the trial period which indicates that.
“The Nevada Gaming Control Board has set regulatory requirements for online poker at the highest level. We are thrilled that our product is the first to not only meet these standards, but exceed them. Ultimate Poker gives online poker fans the game they love in an environment they can trust.”
The one state that has been wavering on online poker is California. California was supposed to have online poker back in 2006 but in-fighting between the casino companies, the land-based poker rooms, the racetracks and the native American groups has stopped any legislation from being enacted. The native groups have been particularly opposed to online poker believing that the activity will cannibalize their land based casinos and jeopardize their monopoly on gambling. But recently native leaders have conceded that state sanctioned online gambling is imminent and are prepared to get on board with three provisos. First they want the right to offer poker along with the casinos; second they want to ensure that any online legislation that passes will be poker only and that any expansion of gambling (online or land-based) would continue to be the sole rights of the tribes; and third they want to be included in drafting the regulations for online poker operators in the state. Since poker play on the reserves is so insignificant in relation to craps, blackjack and slots it’s not a major concession. To ensure that the state does not sell out however, the native groups want a “bad actor” clause which would prevent any companies that operated in the United States after the passing of the UIGEA from being given a license and they want to exclude any individuals that have shown bad character. This would exempt PokerStars and Full Tilt along with other offshore operators that catered to U.S. citizens after the passing of the UIGEA. The California Online Poker Association which comprises 31 state card rooms and 29 tribes has been instrumental in the shift of the native groups’ position convincing the various tribes that doing nothing will cost the state over 1,300 jobs and $1.4 billion in potential revenue.
