Card Player – Illinois is one of the states in the thick of online poker discussions. Some there briefly flirted with a plan for the state lottery to get into the online casino games business, but those ideas quietly faded. As anticipated, discussions have resurfaced early this year.
This week, John Pappas, who is at the helm of the Poker Players Alliance, testified in front of an Illinois Senate Committee on the topic of online gaming authorization. Pappas and his group are one of the strongest advocates for online poker in the U.S. The PPA boasts 1.2 million members.
Pappas, who has testified on the issue before in other locations, including on Capitol Hill, hit on his usual points.
After the hearing, a state lawmaker told reporters that “there’s a lot of complications as to how it affects the existing gaming industry. That seems to be where the hang-up might be right now.” Some in Illinois have been trying to expand gambling in the form of a casino in Chicago, but that has proven incredibly difficult to accomplish. The governor has blocked it.
In other words, online gambling appears to be a long-shot for the time being.
No bill that includes online gaming has been introduced so far in 2014.
California is considered the state with the best chance of joining Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey in the camp of those with legal real-money online poker.
