On October 28, law enforcement “cracked” a case that involved over 2,000 gamblers in an online gambling ring that was using an offshore site to facilitate wagers while actually hosting the site on US soil. It is estimated that millions of dollars were shuffled through banks in order to place these wagers, and an investigation culminated in a New York City grand jury indictment for 17 people. Arrests were subsequently made in New York, Nevada, and California. And Cali plays a major role here, as the ring’s “ringleader” was actually a man from Santa Clarita, Cyrus Irani.

If there’s any silver lining here, it’s that the police never went after the gamblers. What a lot of people don’t realize is that, in the USA, it’s actually legal for you to gamble. In face, we have vetted the most reputable legal California online gambling sites that accept all players from CA. What’s illegal is what these 17 people did, by creating a site on US soil that facilitated betting. Those arrested include bookmakers and accountants and those who created the network.

According to Richard A. Brown, Queens County’s DA, the gambling ring was collecting $32 million annually in bets on sports that were considered illegal. In a statement, Brown made it clear exactly where he stood on gambling, likening the sport to crack cocaine and saying that “It is highly addictive.” Oddly enough, law enforcement didn’t even catch on to the ring until some of those charged in the indictments began bidding on a Batman comic book. What law enforcement is doing staking out comic sales is anyone’s guess, but you can be sure that they have some Patriot Act provision that allows them to snoop around wherever they want.

This is huge news in New York. The state has been dealing with these gambling rings for a while now, while California is a relative newcomer. Though it stings worse for the Golden State. They’re currently trying to get legalized gambling through the legislature, and this criminal element won’t bode well for their odds of getting a majority vote.

While what these 17 charged individuals did was technically against America’s and California’s anti-gambling laws, you never know what lawyers will manage to turn up in potential unlawful search and seizures or other loopholes whereby government will be on the hook for illegally prying into people’s private lives. Probably not likely, as government typically gets away with any sort of ISP snooping, but this is certainly the hope of those charged. They are facing very serious charges and perhaps time in prison.

The irony here is that government fails to see how their draconian anti-gambling measures force these black markets into existence. They swing heavy hammers against those markets, claiming they’re criminal enterprises, but they wouldn’t even need to exist if gambling were simply legal. However, as Mr. “crack cocaine” reminds us, it’s more about government taking a moral stance than a legal stance. These individuals aren’t going to be considered criminals because they robbed or stole or the like. They’re going to be considered criminals because their actions went against the moral purity of lawmakers. Yeah, throw this one in the “bad news” category all the way.

The post California Citizens Held as Part of Online Gambling Ring first appeared on California Gambling Online.

Gatto feels confident that by using identity verification technology similar to what financial institutions use that they will be able to effectively verify the age and identity of registrants and prevent underage or fraudulent registrations and transactions. Gatto has no doubts that the state can develop a sensible and effective real money California online poker framework that adequately protects both operators and players. He expressed hope that lawmakers will listen to the experts and form fact based opinions for moving forward with strong public policy concerning online poker.

While the in person registration would not be required with AB 9, it is still an option for players and it is hoped that enough players will opt for the face to face registration to generate foot traffic in the brick and mortar casinos. Additional amendments to the bill may include the classification of illegal gambling operations within the state as a felony offense. Read more about the state’s laws and statutes here.

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance also believes that players simply won’t want to exert the effort necessary to register in person and would instead stick with the offshore online poker sites that do not have an in person registration requirement. Not every player lives close to brick and mortar destinations that would offer online poker, and all of those players would likely be eliminated from a state regulated player base simply due to inconvenience.

Any state regulated online poker initiatives will have to compete with the existing offshore poker sites offering their services to players in the Golden State. Along with competitive incentives such as bonuses and promotions, they will also have to compete on the level of convenience that is offered as well. This one factor can make or break an online poker brand. There are some talks that Assemblyman Reggie Jones Sawyer may introduce his own online poker bill in the near future. Sawyer was the author of an online poker bill last year that did not see fruition.

The post California Online Poker Bill Amended To Remove In Person Registration first appeared on California Gambling Online.

How that affects the online poker industry in California involves global poker giant PokerStars. That company has partnered up with the Golden State’s three biggest physical card rooms, as well as the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, in an online poker agreement. Basically, the partnership would allow PokerStars to provide Internet poker if and when California decides to regulate and offer state sanctioned cyber poker.

PokerStars last week was sold to the Amaya Gaming Group for a total of $4.9 billion. The move was seen as a way to guarantee entry into the United States marketplace, since Amaya enjoys a sterling reputation as a global gambling company with no black marks on its resume.

How California’s Bad Actor Clause Affects PokerStars

However, two current bills sitting before the state legislator, as well as one California Indian tribal proposal, would disallow PokerStars from joining the California online poker party. In 2011 PokerStars was one of the three largest Internet poker rooms in the world. On what is now known as Black Friday in the poker community, in April of that year, PokerStars was shut down, with player accounts and money frozen.

The charge from the US Department of Justice was that executives working for PokerStars were engaged in laundering money and in direct violation of several US banking statutes. Since then, PokerStars has complied with all DOJ mandates, and is currently a company in good standing with US authorities. But that indictment would disallow PokerStars from benefiting by any involvement in a future California online poker industry, because of the bad actor clause in the legislation.

Does California’s Bad Actor Clause Violate the U.S. Constitution?

The problem lies in the legislative wording which makes up the bad actor clauses in California AB 2291 and SB 1366. These bills were put forth by state Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer and Senator Lou Correa. But all is not lost for PokerStars. Professor Laurence H. Tribe teaches at the Harvard University Law School, and has helped nations shape their constitutions. The renowned and respected professor has reviewed both of those pieces of California legislation, and finds them in direct violation of the United States Constitution.

Even though PokerStars continued offering its virtual product to US citizens after the formation of the UIGEA in 2006, whether that Internet gambling law has any legal rights has not been determined in any court. Because of this, Tribe believes that PokerStars has a right to trial representation before judgment from a bad actor clause is passed.

A third proposal by a group of 13 influential California Indian tribes also contains bad actor wording which would affect PokerStars negatively. The triumvirate of PokerStars, their California card room partners and the Morongo Indians have vowed to fight any bad actor legislation, and it appears that Tribe’s opinion on the matter provides them with a powerful ally.

The post Lawyer Claims CA “Bad Actor” Online Gambling Clause Violates US Constitution first appeared on California Gambling Online.

The conference is being sponsored by multiple parties, including The California Endowment, the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, Poker Stars, Churchill Downs, GTECH, and California Center for Civic Participation, among several others. The sponsors represent a diverse segment of the California gambling population, with diversity always being a positive contribution to any cause. The conference takes place May 22, 2014, and is open to the public with a registration fee of $199.00 that includes both lunch and materials.

The five panel discussions cover the following topics: Fiscal Impact, Technology and Security, Tribal Perspectives, Regulation and The Politics. As of this writing, there were 16 confirmed expert speakers that each will bring a different perspective to the table. There is likely to be some debate during the panels as some of these expert perspectives will not align with each other.

The panels may also address the language concerning the ‘bad actor’ clause which would effectively eliminate Poker Stars as a participant in the California online poker industry. These types of discussions are necessary to the process not only to raise awareness of specific points, benefits and risks of the online poker industry and to hammer out issues before they occur, but also to create a cohesive, united front moving forward that works together to accomplish the will of the people.

This is a strong exercise in state’s rights, and achieving a decision one way or the other will strengthen the freedom and rights of each state to determine their own destiny not only concerning online gambling, but other critical issues moving forward. This is something which is crucial in today’s political climate that leans towards a ‘big government ‘approach to lawmaking.

All sides of the discussion are well represented at the conference, including California Indian Casinos, and other industry professionals, and it legitimately seems to be an authentic effort to get everyone engaged, including the general public. A well educated public will result in informed voters, which is the optimal scenario for any group that wants to initiate or stop any particular legislative action.

Providing the public with accurate information will allow them to determine how they want to weigh in on the issue and put thoughtful consideration into how they will vote should it come before a public vote. If it will be a state legislature vote only, it will allow residents the opportunity to contact their representatives and knowledgeably express how they want to be represented in the senate or house vote.

We applaud the sponsors and organizers of this conference and consider it to be a step in the right direction, regardless of the outcome of efforts to launch online poker in the state of California. You can get full details on the event by visiting here: California Online Gaming Conference Details.

The post California to Host Online Gaming Conference first appeared on California Gambling Online.

When the US Justice Department made an about-face concerning its attitude towards Internet gambling in December of 2011, that paved the way for Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware to deliver an online gambling state-supported presence. That regulation allows for each individual state to develop its own online gambling industry, as long as it does not include sports gambling.

Last year California joined Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas and Iowa as several states which unsuccessfully offered some type of legalized Internet gambling legislation. And of the 28 states which do offer land-based gaming facilities run by native American Indian tribes, which include a total of 460 brick-and-mortar casinos, there are no online gambling options … yet. And the individual US states continuing their push towards legalizing online gambling is also reflected and supported at the international level.

Currently, online betting in some form generates close to $30 billion of estimated revenue globally each and every year. Americans are responsible for $4 billion of that spending according to the American Gaming Association, an impressive percentage of the overall take considering the limited number of legal online gambling options currently available from US-based and sponsored Internet casinos and poker rooms.

Obviously, numbers like that make the virtual versions of casino and poker gambling very attractive to the 240 Indian tribes in the United States. With Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware delivering Internet gambling options for less than one year, it is hard to ascertain the financial impact the new industry will deliver to US companies.

However, market and industry analyst Fitch Ratings says its research shows between $300 million and $750 million annually will be delivered to those three states alone over the next several years. And at least one Native American Indian tribe in rural California is not waiting until 2014 to deliver the first Internet tribal gambling effort seen in the United States. Additionally, they will not need US federal approval to do so.

In 1988 the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed, providing that the federal government in the US must approve state-tribe compacts, brick-and-mortar casino management contracts and most other tribal gaming ordinances. But a significant loophole lies in the fact that this only applies to those gambling options which are classified as Class III entities. This includes but is not limited to blackjack, roulette and craps, slot machines, electronic video games and other electronic gambling games of chance.

This means that recognized Native American Indian tribes do not need federal approval to launch and manage Class III games of chance such as pull-tabs, lottery contests, punch boards and bingo halls. And this also includes Internet options, which is why the Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe in California is pushing forward with its late 2013 online gambling launch of Class II classified games.

In a similar move, the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma are aggressively pushing to launch a website which will target real money gamblers who live outside the physical United States. And in several locations in the Midwest, the financially impressive possibilities have attracted the attention of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, who stated that they are currently prepared for making an online launch as soon as “more states or the federal government sanction online gambling.”

In many states where Indian tribes offer gambling options in the physical sense, both those tribes and the state share casino revenue. California is already home to such a compact, and with that state ready to move forward with its own Internet gambling launch in early 2014 according to state gaming regulators alongside new Indian tribal offerings, a similar agreement could mean that the New Year brings multiple Internet gambling options for the most populous US state.

The post California Indian Tribes Considering 2014 Online Gambling Launch first appeared on California Gambling Online.

And with a current population of more than 38 million, a number which is 50% bigger than the resident count of the next most populous state, Texas, California is in a unique position to financially profit more than any other state possibly could from offering a virtual Vegas slate of gambling options to its residents and visitors. It will be interesting to see what shape California legal online casinos take.

Many different groups of California legislators and residents have been pushing for online gambling in some form for quite some time. And it appears that early 2014 could finally see the delivery of at least Internet poker to the Golden State. This possibility came about when the usually grumpy and “no fun allowed” attitude of the United States Department of Justice seemed to change in 2011.

Just two days before Christmas, the DOJ presented a holiday gift to Internet gamblers in America. They claimed poker was a game of skill and not chance, declared Internet sales of lottery tickets to be legal across state lines, and also decided to allow each individual state to develop its own Internet gambling legislation and regulation.

As you probably know, Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey are all either currently offering Internet wagering, or will be launching some type of online gambling presence in the near future. New Jersey and Nevada have already legalized the signing of interstate gambling pacts with other states which have a positive attitude towards online gambling. But when California finally decides to give the go-ahead for Internet gambling in that state, it will be the crown jewel in the United States online gambling industry.

And between State Bill 51 (SB51), SB678 and the proposal made by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, there are three legitimate pieces of legislation proposing online gambling laws in California, all with influential and respected backers.

The reason why there are three different major proposals for California gambling online is because of the diverse cultures, political beliefs and attitudes at work in that state. And the differences in opinions can be fully appreciated simply by looking at the ideas about licensing fees discussed in these three different pieces of legislation. SB51 believes that $15 million is a reasonable licensing fee to charge anyone that wants to legally offer online gambling access in the Golden State.

However, SB678 proposes a lower fee of $10 million per applicant, and the influential Pechanga Indian tribe was the most generous of all, expecting a registration fee of just $5 million. If that were the only holdup in creating across the board agreement, we would have already seen the ability to gamble online in CA.

However, the argument over who should actually be able to apply for a license as a state-sponsored Internet gambling provider is really what is slowing things down. SB51, after many provisions and probably with the greatest chance of passing, believes that the state’s racetracks and advance deposit wagering companies should be allowed to apply for an Internet gambling license.

But SB678 and the Pechanga proposal agree in general that only Indian tribes and currently licensed card rooms should be able to obtain an interactive gaming license, even even though those two pieces of legislation cannot agree on the specifics.

The good news is that over the last couple of years the bigger anti-gambling voices in the state of California have become quieter over time, as the state struggles financially. And with three intelligent and major pieces of legislation screaming for passage, the celebratory voice that is California gambling online will probably finally be heard in 2014.

The post California SB51, SB678 and Pechanga Proposals Mean 2014 Will See Internet Gambling in the Golden State first appeared on California Gambling Online.