California’s tribal casinos could be the key to the state passing online poker legislation, it has been claimed.
State Senator Roderick Wright, sponsor of an online poker bill currently active in the legislature, said that the state’s 66 tribal casinos and 93 card rooms have viewed i-gaming with a great deal of suspicion in the past.
Speaking at the World Gaming Executive Summit in Barcelona, Spain, last week, Senator Wright explained that when the issue of i-gaming was first raised, it was “universally hated” by land-based gaming operators.
Indian tribes were, he said, concerned about what it may take away from their bricks and mortar businesses.
However, some tribes are now beginning to realise that i-gaming can help the casinos attract a new, younger audience. Others remain deeply opposed, he said.
California’s tribal casinos continue to be a powerful lobbying force and are therefore likely to be a major influence on whether lawmakers go ahead with an intra-state i-gaming legislation.
Senator Wright suggested that with around a million people in California already playing poker online and an ageing land-based casino customer base, California’s tribes must consider the synergies and benefits of i-gaming.
Getting the bill passed will require a degree of compromise, he added, noting that it will be a “real challenge.”
