Two Online Gambling Bills Introduced in California

Good news for gamblers in California, two different bills dealing with the legislation and legalisation of online poker were introduced to the California State legislature.

The bills are designed to make intrastate poker legal in the state by the end of this year. The bills each represented the interests of a different group of California tribes and each was submitted to a difference house of the California legislature.

The first bill, SB 1366, is very similar to a previous bill, SB 678. It is thought that the bill is being sponsored by State Senator Lou Correa. SV 678 was backed by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in 2013 and has now been labelled the Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act of 2014.

The bill would ban any site that took bets from US players after the implementation of the UIGEA. However, it would allow for interstate agreements.

The second bill, AB 2291, was introduced by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer and represents the interests of at least eight different Californian tribes. The bill prices licenses at $5 million which would be active for ten years and non-transferable. The bill forbids any involvement in federal online poker legislation if it was to be enacted in the future and would not allow interstate compacts.