More tribes in California back bill to legalize Internet poker games

Monday, March 14, 2011  

The California Online Poker Association, a group representing 29 tribes, and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, which represents 28 tribes, are supporting SB 40, a bill to legalize Internet poker games.

COPA, a coalition that includes non-Indian card clubs, is leading the push for the bill. The group sees online poker as a way to generate more revenue for the state.

"I think if we blink at this moment, we'll lose a golden opportunity," state Sen. Lou Correa, (D), the sponsor of SB 40, told The Sacramento Bee. "Internet poker is an area that's growing, and for us to ignore it, to say we're not going to address or regulate it, that's really ignoring the facts."

CNIGA stayed out of the debate until earlier this year. "If we sit on our hands, we're not going to be a part of that evolving state," spokesperson Jerome Encinas told the paper.

The California Tribal Business Alliance, which represents three tribes with casinos, opposes the bill, saying Internet poker could erode tribal gaming rights.

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Lawmakers bet that California's ready for state-sanctioned online poker (The Sacramento Bee 3/13)