Online Poker Bill Could also be Placed on Hold in California

California lawmakers are intent on moving carefully with the bill to manage intrastate online poker, although it means holding the measure over until the following session.

With only four weeks left at the legislative calendar for the present session in California, hopes of a snappy passage of an intrastate online poker bill are slowly fading. Despite the state's urgent need for more revenue and the opportunity of Internet poker to bring money to the state, signs are that the bill should wait some time longer.

Senator Darrell Steinberg told Capitol Weekly of the bill, "it may not be taken up within the last four weeks."

While the Morongo tribe has thrown its considerable support behind online poker, other tribes are emerging as opponents to any online gambling expansion. Tribes don't want to risk violating generous compacts by participating in online gaming that can go against the language of current agreements, and positively don't need Internet gaming wherein they play no part.

"Pechanga has had a status opposition to online poker since proposals first surfaced last year, out of concerns for the far-reaching legal, political and policy consequences of a spread of this magnitude," wrote Pechanga tribal chairman Mark Macarro.

"I think it'll take greater than four weeks to investigate that sort of proposal and the prospective economic benefits," Steinberg said in a summation of what seems to be the consensus within the state.

Published on August 27, 2009 by MattMiller

Read More... [Source: California Gambling News]