World News

Legislators, Native American tribes and state-agency directors are looking at online poker under the proverbial microscope, according to a great article by Debra Gruszecki of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California. This time the subject is not the basic question of whether poker is legal or illegal. It’s about the money.

 

Gruszecki writes that a committee of the California Senate held a preliminary hearing on the idea of “legalizing” online poker for the purpose of getting new revenue in the state bank accounts. Representatives of the Native American tribes that operate “live” casinos in California are concerned about the competition.

 

The majority of United States residents can’t play online poker, except at a few rare sites. The state of California is apparently thinking about making Internet poker legal within the state, for state residents, to get new tax revenue. The sticking point is money, since the Native American tribes contribute more than $300 million to the state. The agreement between the state and the casinos includes a provision that limits California’s “ability to compete against these casinos,” writes Gruszecki. Observers of this new activity feel the question will probably end up being answered in a California courtroom.