California is gearing up to the idea of accepting other forms of internet gambling, including poker, however it seems that California’s Indian tribes have a lot of uncertainty with the recent changes in the definition of the Federal Wire Act.
Howard Dickstein, a specialist on tribal gaming and jurisdictional issues says,“I think most of us assumed that the Wire Act did not apply to intrastate Internet gaming, but this confirms it.”
“And it also provides California with the opportunity apart from what the federal government decides to do with Internet gaming to enter into agreements with other states to increase the market, the liquidity, and viability of state authorized Internet gaming,“ Dickstein said.
“In three years of discussing Internet gaming in California this issue has come up maybe once or twice,” said David Quintana with the California Tribal Business Alliance.
“Clarifying this issue and its effect on the ability of [a] bill getting passed or not is the equivalent of saying whether a race car that has leather or vinyl seats is going to win the race.”
With both of last year’s contentious online gambling bills SB 40 and SB 45 set to expire, a new bill under the supervision of Senate Leader Darrel Steinberg of Sacramento is in the works.
Quintana said the fate of the online gaming legislation has much to do with Capitol politics surrounding three major issues:
Who gets to operate the online gambling sites? Tribes only? Tribes, card rooms, and race tracks? Tribes, card rooms, race tracks and advance deposit-wagering companies?
Every one of those players has a vested interest to either widen or narrow ownership.
Though framework for the new bill is still being developed, Dickstein says the bill will probably be more market-oriented, not making arbitrary choices amongst operators and allowing market forces to play a more significant role in deciding which companies and operators are successful.
Reported by Maggie B.