Poll: Will California pass online poker legislation in 2015?
After a third online poker bill dropped in California on Friday, this week's eGR poll asks if 2015 will finally be the year the state gets legislation across the line
The push for online poker progress in California received a major boost last week after a new bill was introduced by two of the state’s most powerful politicians.
Senator Isadore Hall and Assemblyman Adam Gray submitted identical bills to the Senate and Assembly, the third piece of online poker legislation introduced this year.
The involvement of Hall and Gray is considered a major step towards getting a bill across the line in 2015, and the bill has already received the backing of PokerStars and its California coalition of key tribal bodies and card rooms.
But the battle is far from won.
Other stakeholders such as the racetracks and the powerful Pechanga tribe have yet to respond to the new bill, which contains no detail about tax rates, licence fees, and ‘bad actor’ clauses as of yet.
And powerful tribal group Pechanga has been particularly vocal over one of the other bills that would allow both the racetracks and PokerStars to enter the fray, saying “there was much for the tribes to dislike” about the legislation.
So with that in mind, we ask whether California will pass online poker legislation in 2015, or whether it will be another year of disappointment. Let us know your thoughts on the right hand side of the page.
Any progress with legislation in California would be the shot in the arm the regulated US egaming industry needs after a tough 12 months with no new states adopting egaming legislation to help grow the market.
Although some operators have struggled to gain traction in the nascent US market, others such as the Borgata and Golden Nugget, and platform providers 888, bwin.party and Gamesys, are making real progress.
And the top achievers will be rewarded at the inaugural eGR North America Awards, held in San Francisco on 21 April 2015, which will recognise those operators leading the charge in both the social and real-money sectors.