Will California Enter US Online Gambling Market in 2014?

CaliforniaLast year saw the online gambling industry in the United States begin to slowly take shape and many states are now curious to see who will be next to join the blossoming industry? Most operators are watching the state of California since the state offers a potentially large pool of players with a population of around 38 million. A recent report at SFGate gives a nice inside look as to what the state of California is dealing with when it comes to online gambling.

The state basically has three gaming entities:

Horse Racing Tracks
Land Based Poker Rooms
Tribal Casinos

Each entity has their own idea as to how online gaming should go and each want the option more in their favor. It is these entities, especially the tribal groups that have fought against online gambling in the past. In the report, I. Nelson Rose, a Gambling Law Specialist and Professor at the Whittier Law School, spoke about how he has no doubt that online poker will be legal in the state of California. Rose stated that only factor preventing the option is politics.

Rose stated that the tribes in California have used their wealth to be able to gain power politically. This has allowed the tribes to have some sort of say in legislative matters. The Indian tribes in California believe that if online gaming is legalized the revenues produced by brick and mortar casinos would suffer.

It is believed that this fear will cause the state of California to only offer online poker instead of all types of casino gaming. Because tribes have political pull, this may be the only option to come about in the state, at least initially.

Rose further stated that California is in need of increased tax revenues. Therefore he believes that this need will drive the state to pass web-based poker. Rose says that because 2014 is an election year, the state will most likely approve online poker in some format by 2015.

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