Commercial gain the main motive
The past two weeks have been full of reports in respect to potential Californian legalization of online poker, which caused certain for-and-against alliances among the tribal groupings in the region. Those moves are claimed to have in mind only player benefit, but it is speculated that commercial gain is in reality one of the major motives.
California Online Poker Association is the head of the pro-oriented lobby, due to the measure introduced by Senator Lou Correa last week, which implies that a "licensed entity" - one that already has a casino or card club in California – should be in charge of an "intra-state Internet poker website"; a still unspecified share of this entity's revenues should be paid to the state, and all internet competition would be illegal.
This proposition may turn out to be quite lucrative for any entity that manages to corner the market, as the approximate number of Californians playing poker amounts to about 2 million, wagering up to $300 million a year. State-by-state legalization lobbyists point to states' rights to autonomy in purely state affairs when the issue is discussed in the context of federal bans on online gambling financial transactions.
The organization consists of 29 tribal groups and already licensed terrestrial card clubs. Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, both owners of large tribal casino interests, are on the top of the roster.
On the other side stands the California Tribal Business Alliance also with several large tribes including casinos. It supposedly recognizes that online gambling is an inevitable development of events, but in the light of COPA proposal, this body's spokesman said that the proposal is: "....the equivalent of the state passing a bill to give Chevron the sole right to operate gas stations in California."
Another casino operating tribe, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, have reportedly also dropped traditional alliances, now standing against legalized online poker in the state, allegedly due to the fact that it flies in the face of tribal compacts and presents "game changing" elements of commercial pressure.
In addition, despite the failure he previously saw at the committee stage with a similar bill, it is reported that State Senator Rod Wright is launching the repeat bill, suggesting that three state-licensed land operators be given up to 20 year deals to run intra-state gambling sites in California. His position at the head of the state senate committee that supervises gambling affairs makes him a rather influential factor in the legalization issue.
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