Morongo Band pushing for Internet poker

Monday, August 17, 2009  

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians and non-Indian card clubs say the state of California will share in revenues from Internet poker games.

But the tribe won't say how much will go to the state because a bill to legalize Internet poker is still being developed. "The state would get some revenue," spokesperson Patrick Dorinson told The North County Times. "But I don't want to give a percentage because there isn't a formal bill."

The tribe has teamed up with non-Indian card clubs in the Los Angeles area to lobby for the bill. They formed a group called California Tribal Intrastate Internet Poker Consortium.

The California Tribal Business Alliance opposes the bill. "This proposal represents an unprecedented expansion of gambling and could have serious negative consequences," Robert Scheid, a spokesperson for the Viejas Band of Mission Indians, which belongs to the CTBA, told the paper.

Dorinson said a bill could be ready sometime this week.

Get the Story:
Tribes at odds over legalizing Internet poker (The North County Times 8/17)
Tribe pushes for legal Web gambling (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 8/15)

An Opinion:
George F. Will: Government Should Fold On Internet Poker (The Hartford Courant 8/17)