California tribal alliance agrees on internet poker bill

June 4, 2014

Predictions last week that the 13 California tribes encompassed by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians have reached agreement on an intrastate online poker bill (see previous report) were confirmed Tuesday when the tribes communicated with Sen. Lou Correa and Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer. Our readers will recall […]

U.S. politicians and analysts need to understand the fundamentals of online poker

June 3, 2014

The online poker information site United States of Poker.net has published a well-reasoned op-ed on why US legalised internet poker in states like Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada has underperformed relative to the expectations of politicians and analysts. The reason is not the competition that illegal operators constitute, a widely held belief voiced by many […]

Pennsylvania senator plans an online poker legalisation bill

June 1, 2014

With the next hearing on internet gambling legalisation in Pennsylvania scheduled for June 3 and already attracting media attention (see previous reports) the news emerged last Friday that a new Senate bill will soon be introduced seeking to regulate and license intrastate online poker. Pennsylvania Senator Edwin Erickson is the man behind the new bill […]

Online poker bill introduced in New York Assembly

May 7, 2014

The momentum for intrastate online poker legalisation in the state of New York picked up this week when Rep. Gary Pretlow introduced a companion bill to SB 6913 introduced to the Senate earlier this year (see previous report). The Assembly bill closely follows the thrust of its Senate counterpart that poker is primarily a game […]

Most Californians support online poker legalisation

April 29, 2014

It appears that lobbying companies are not the only businesses benefitting from the struggle for online poker legalisation…polling companies are doing pretty well off the debate as well. The latest study, commissioned by pro-legalisation action group the Coalition for Consumer & Online Protection, shows that most of the respondents have no problem with online poker […]

Sonnenburg online poker case back in the Illinois courts

April 26, 2014

The Illinois class action against Pokerstars launched by Kelly Sonnenberg has been around for what seems like ages, but it entered a new phase this week with the submission of a second complaint. Our readers may recall that Sonnenberg invoked the Illinois Loss Recovery Act, a state law that allows gambling losers to reclaim their […]

Diverse opinions heard at California house hearing on legalised online poker

April 24, 2014

Spokesmen for a variety of interests for and against the legalisation of online gambling in California presented their arguments to the state’s Assembly Governmental Organization Committee hearing Wednesday, with testimony from 33 witnesses heard over a marathon more than five hour session in the state capital. Chaired by Rep. Isadore Hall, the committee listened and […]

Big day for California online poker

April 23, 2014

Today (Wednesday) is an important day in the legislative history of online poker in California as 33 witnesses with different views on legalisation give testimony before a California State Assembly committee. Titled rather ponderously as “The Future Public Policy and Fiscal Implications of Authorizing iPoker Gaming in California,” the hearing in front of the 19 […]

Former poker pro in bid for election to U.S. Congress

April 22, 2014

Former poker pro James Hinton of Napa, California has ambitions to switch his bluffing skills to a new game – politics, going all-in in a challenge to unseat the incumbent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, in the heavily Democratic 5th Congressional District. The publication Times Herald reports that the 39-year-old underdog has described himself as […]

Activist ready for another run at legalisation in Washington state

April 22, 2014

Poker activist Curtis Woodard is a persistent man determined to legalise online poker in his home state of Washington, which has arguably the most draconian anti-online gambling laws in the Union, allowing it to prosecute its own citizens for even playing. This week he told the publication Bluff that despite two previous failed attempts, he […]