California Senate to Hear Legalizing Intrastate Online Poker Bid!...Can the Sunny State Keep its Skies Clear of Online Poker Cheating?

Source: John Stathis examiner.com

An informal hearing titled "Examining the Public Policy and Fiscal Implications Related to the Authorization of Intrastate Internet Poker in California" will be held by California's Senate Governmental Organization Committee on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at the State Capital (room 4203) in Sacramento from 9:30 a.m- 5:30 p.m. The hearing's agenda includes statements from Tribal Government leaders, card clubs, players, Bureau of Gambling Control Commission, internet service providers, and problem gambling/anti-gambling organizations. Public comment is slated last on the agenda where the people affected most will have its say to the Senate committee.

Poker, as in blackjack, provides an advantage to players who depend on mathematics to earn a profit and those who ignore the math will lose in the long-run. The State Senate of California is exploring the feasibility of revenue from the multi-billion dollar industry that is lost to offshore online casinos. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is scheduled to make a pitch for the exclusive right to operate intrastate internet poker in California. The tribes in California are loosely enforced by the Bureau of

Gambling Control Commission and disputes are enforced by California Tribal Gaming agencies which is to say that the tribes are the fox guarding the henhouse. On September 11, 2009 the Kahnawake Gaming Commission of the Mohawk Tribe near Montreal, Canada admitted cheating occurred at Ultimate Bet from 6/03-12/07. A tribe in California running internet poker can cheat players right under the Bureau of Gambling Control Commission's noses and that is disturbing.

Many don't desire a casino in their homes while it can be argued taxing online poker will help California out of its budget woes. California can cut out the middleman and run internet poker as it does with horse racing now. The morality of the issue will begin in Sacramento February 9 where the politics of "making sausage" will rear its ugly head.