A Californian man has launched a petition that would allow state voters to decide if California should establish a state-owned online poker site.
Anthony Sandstrom submitted the proper forms to California state offices that allow him to circulate his petition, which is called Initiative for Potholes Repair Funded by A California State Owned Online Poker Site. He needs to collect 430,000 names in about four months for his initiative to be placed on a statewide ballot.
The initiative calls for 90 percent of the money that the state would make from online poker to go toward repairing potholes and "broken streets." The other 10 percent would go to the California Gambling Addiction Program Fund.
The initiative calls for California to establish a division through the state's lottery department that would tax regulate online poker.
Sandstrom could not be reached for comment, but here's what he wrote on the website he established to spread the word about his petition:
"I personally have no interest in either online casino gambling or sports betting. I am just a guy who wants to play poker at home when I don't feel like making an hour drive to a cardroom or casino. I am going to make a mighty effort to make safe, legal, and accessible online poker possible. At the same time, this effort can be of great benefit to the drivers of the State of California.
PS: I am monumentally tired of the sorry state of the local streets too!
PPS: Online poker IS coming to the US. The question is when it will happen and who it will benefit. I vote for Californians to benefit."
People interested in signing or learning more about the petition should visit his website (
http://www.caonlinepoker.org/). All the details, as well as full text of the initiative, can be found there. If enough signatures are collected, the initiative will end up on the ballot in the spring.
