Online Poker Bills Shelved Till Jan 2016 As California Legislative Assembly Ends Last Session

The last California Legislative session ended, but with no talks at all of the pending online poker bills, ending any hopes of them being passed this year. The session officially ended on Sept 11 and will reconvene only in Jan 2016.

This will be the seventh year in succession that online poker bills have been pending with the California legislative assembly, but are yet to see implementation. Though, Amaya, parent company of PokerStars has been pushing hard, the lack of any consensus among the Indian tribes, card clubs, racetrack operators and several other players has amounted to zero progress on the issue.

Assemblyman Adam Gray’s bill, AB 431 was the only one ready to move, but being a shell, with no details ever filled; it was also not taken up. This bill had held promise when it had been unanimously passed by the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, but that is now a hollow victory, with no further progress in the Legislative assembly.

Gray’s camp has conceded that it would now be followed up only in Jan next.

Four online bills had been in the pipeline since the start of 2015, chief among these had been two bills, SB 1366 and AB-2291, which had been introduced by Assemblymen Reggie Jones-Sawyer and Mike Gatto, respectively way back from 2014.

While, Gatto’s bill excluded horseracing and a bad actor’s clause, Jones-Sawyer’s bill allowed tracks’ participation and favored the bad-actor clause, thus dividing supporters further and failing to bring about a clear agreement on the matter.

Despite several attempts to unite the warring factions and three hearings in the assembly, no headway was made, chiefly due to this lack of agreement, as well as lacunae on the part of State Sen. Isadore Hall.

There have been a number of issues that have split operators, with the re-entry of PokerStars into the US, the inclusion of horse racing and the ‘bad-actor clause’ being the most contentious ones.

Billionaire casino owner, Adelson Sheldon has been openly campaigning against the entry of PokerStars, spending huge amounts of money in contributions to sway political will. Even the Indian tribe, Viejas launched a radio offensive against the site. PokerStars retaliated by setting up an informative website and sending a team of popular pros on a road show across the state.

If Adelson and the 10 Indian tribes are on one side, Amaya, San Manuel, Morongo, Caesars, and the card clubs Commerce, Hawaiian Gardens, and The Bicycle are on the opposite one.

It is estimated that the California online poker market could exceed the figure of $380 million a year. And, each operator is clearly seeking to dominate the largest piece of that pie.

While, operators and politicos continue their games, it is clearly the Californian poker players’ loss, as they will have to wait out more, until it is legally permissible to play in the state.