The state of California went from the forefront of being the next US state to offer online poker gaming to the back-burner, as interested parties could not seem to come to any agreement on how the industry should be regulated and licensed within the state’s borders. The state of Pennsylvania picked up speed and has introduced several bills over the last few months as well as held hearings to move even closer to joining Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey as providers of online gaming within the US.
Today, officials in California will try once again to discuss online poker gaming with a hearing scheduled for 1:30 this afternoon, local time. The Legality of Internet Poker—How Prepared is California to Regulate It? hearing will begin today and will feature officials from various gaming groups as well as lawmakers in attendance.
The following groups are to be included in the discussions, such as:
- Poker Players Alliance
- Amaya Gaming
- Caesars Interactive Entertainment
- Bicycle Casino
It has already been decided by several tribal groups as well as card rooms and legislators that some type of compromise will have to be made in regards to who is allowed a license for operation. There are still specific groups who do not want to see sites such as PokerStars operate within the state and wish to see a bad actor clause included in bill language.
There are still others who do not want to give racetracks the option of obtaining licensing. If racetracks were included, this would mean card rooms, tribal gaming and the racing facilities would all have the opportunity to provide an online poker site. Many feel as though this would saturate the market before it even began.
Proponents of online poker within the state are hoping that today’s meeting will help to bring about some type of compromise to move forward with the development of quality legislation to allow online poker within the borders. Anyone who wishes to listen to the hearing as it takes place can do so by visiting the Assembly website for the audio. This is the second hearing to take place in California over the past few weeks in regards to online gaming.
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