Morongo Band revives proposal for Internet poker

Tuesday, December 15, 2009  

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians and non-Indian card clubs are reviving a proposal to legalize Internet poker in California.

The tribe and the card clubs say the games will generate revenues for the cash-strapped state. "About 1 million Californians are playing poker offshore right now," spokesperson Patrick Dorinson told The Los Angeles Times.

Other tribes opposed the idea when the Morongo Band proposed it this fall. "Card game gambling on the Internet would take business away from brick and mortar casinos," Robert Smith, the chairman of the California Tribal Business Alliance, said in a letter to lawmakers, the Times reported.

Federal law contains exceptions for Internet gambling if it is authorized by a state or a tribal-state compact.

Get the Story:
Casino group wants to set up Internet poker sites and share revenue with cash-strapped state (The Los Angeles Times 12/13)