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August 08, 2014

Bill Sponsors Fold Two California Bills Legalizing Online Poker

SACRAMENTO—The sponsors of two separate pieces of legislation that would have legalized online poker in the state of California have thrown in their cards in and admitted defeat for the current session. According to pokernews.com, "A representative of Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer told PokerNews today that his bill to legalize online poker in California [AB 2291] will not have enough time to pass this legislative session, which concludes at the end of the month, but that a new bill will be the first one introduced by the assemblyman for the next session in December. "Jones-Sawyer's announcement," it added, "comes a day after the Los Angeles Times reported that Sen. Lou Correa was shelving his online poker bill." Correa's bill is SB 1366. While Correa won't be returning to Sacramento next year because of being termed out, the rep for [Jones-Sawyer ] representative indicated that the Assemblyman was determined to get his bill passed, adding that a lot of progress was made in 2014 in spite of his inability to get the bill across the goal line before the current session ends later this month.   "He said that being unable to pass legislation this session had nothing to do with the crusade by Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson to stop online gambling, this being an election year or the legal problems of Sen. Rod Wright," noted pokernews.com, adding, "The legislature simply ran out of time to work out language of a bill that all parties could accept." According to igamingbusiness.com, "In May, a report by Capitol Matrix Consulting estimated that online poker would generate $800 million (€587 million) and create more than 2,000 jobs for the Californian economy by the end of the decade." Bad actors in the sector and a debate over the inclusion of horse racing appear to be the main obstacles to progress this year. Pokernews.com explains, "The main sticking points are the inclusion of a bad actors clause to stop companies, namely PokerStars, from participating that offered online poker in the state after passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006, and whether or not to allow horse racing tracks to take part. Most of the interested Indian tribes have been steadfast on having a bad actors clause and denying horse tracks throughout this year, but those positions may be softening, particularly after PokerStars' recent acquisition by Amaya Gaming. AVN previously reported on the legal issues faced by online entities such as Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker, which were targeted in 2011 by the U.S. Department of Justice. Despite taking place a few years ago, the repercussions from those events are obviously still being felt today.

 
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