California Lawmakers Talk More About Online PokerState Holds Informational Hearing On Thursday |
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On Thursday, lawmakers in California held an informational hearing on gambling in the Golden State. The hearing was titled “Overview of Gambling in California: Legality, Authorization and Regulation”—and it touched on efforts to legalize real-money online poker.
It featured testimony recapping the state’s current gambling industry and what could be in store for the future. Both the California DoJ and the state’s Gambling Control Commission said they would need more resources if web poker was legalized, especially given the size of California’s already multi-faceted gambling market and existing regulatory backlog.
It was said during the hearing that California’s card rooms bring in annual revenue of $850 million. California’s tribal gaming industry is worth around $7 billion a year. There are also horse tracks in California, which allow bets via the Internet, and interest from them to operate online poker sites appears to be one of the major roadblocks to having a bill become law. Many other gaming interests in the state don’t think the tracks should be players in online poker space. California is home to more than 37 million people, and is the largest poker market in the country, but there’s going to be a limit to how many poker sites or networks can flourish in the Golden State.
U.S. regulated online gambling industry insider Chris Grove, who was there in Sacramento to see the hearing, took note of the comments from Rick Baedeker, Executive Director of the California Horse Racing Board, who was arguing for the tracks participating in online poker.
My personal opinion is that the tracks issue is arguably beyond compromise at this point and that a showdown is becoming inevitable
— Chris Grove (@OPReport) May 20, 2015
In late April, one of several California online poker bills introduced this year advanced out of committee. It was a first for a proposal to regulate online poker in the Golden State.
The bill, AB 431, navigated out of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee. Despite advancing, AB 431 is still considered a “shell bill,” which means it needs to be beefed up in the coming weeks in order to be entertained seriously this year.
No votes were held during Thursday’s hearing in Sacremento.
The next hearing is scheduled for June 24. That one is titled “The Legality of Internet Poker–How Prepared is California to Regulate It?” It will also be an informational hearing.
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