As the final quarter of 2017 turns on the calendar, it is increasingly looking as if there will not be any more states that will be entertaining online poker legislation. One state has come out distinctly as pushing it off to 2018 (again) and another hasn’t completely shut the door, but it is closing quickly.
At the start of 2017, California once again picked up the banner as “next state” to pass online poker legislation. Several proposals were put forth in the California General Assembly but, as the year went on, those efforts fell by the wayside. With the close of the legislative session in September, all efforts to pass online poker legislation expired.
What has been the problem with California? Since the late 2000s, the Golden State has been thought to be working for passage of online poker legislation and the industry has been all for it. As the largest state (population-wise) in the States of America, it would be a particularly juicy jewel in the online crown should it pass legislation. Thus, each year the online poker community looks toward California and its efforts in the area.
For many years, former Representative Roderick Wright was at the forefront of the fight, but his indictment in 2010 and conviction in 2014 of eight counts of voter fraud knocked him out of the California State Assembly. While other representatives such as Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Mike Gatto and Adam Gray have stepped up to continue the efforts for regulation, the same issues that thwarted Wright have been an obstacle.
There are many players in the California gaming scene that are all looking to keep their stranglehold on their markets and expand into the online world. The Indian tribes, which run the casinos that dot the Cali map, are in a battle against the card rooms that have been a part of the gaming scene in the state since the 1930s. Toss in the numerous thoroughbred racetracks in the state and there’s quite a few entities that are looking for their piece of the pie.
That doesn’t even mention the online players in the game. At the top is the behemoth PokerStars and The Stars Group, who would want nothing more than to be a part of the California market. For the most part, however, every bit of legislation that has come forward in the legislative bodies has put a moratorium on PokerStars’ entrance into the market. This moratorium, which PokerStars has fought vehemently, has only added to the cacophony of noise coming from the West Coast.
The noise isn’t quite as loud in Michigan, but the battle is just as fevered.
The Wolverine State came out of the woodwork in late 2016 with a push to pass online gaming legislation that came up short during their legislative session. Those lawmakers looking to push the issue didn’t waste time in 2017 getting something going as both houses of the Michigan General Assembly pushed forth bills on the subject. In the House, HB 4926 was introduced by Representative Brandt Iden, while Senator Mike Kowall presented SB 203 for his body to consider.
Both bills have been quite active through the course of 2017, with several hearings and an actual vote on the Senate bill in committee (the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee), which passed 7-1. Yet, as summer has become fall, the two bills have reached a crossroads. That crossroad has left both sponsors of the respective bills with differing views for the remainder of the year.
Iden is still quite optimistic regarding the passage of HB 4926 out of the House side of the General Assembly. He believes that there is still time, between now and December, for the House to get the bill through and for the Senate to consider it before the end of the year. That optimism isn’t held by his counterpart, Kowall; Kowall cites the same problem that California is having – dickering between different factions involved in the Michigan gaming industry – as the reason that legislation won’t pass in 2017.
With less than two months until the calendar turns, it is likely that neither state will move forward in 2017. 2018 isn’t a guarantee either as California has been agonizing over online poker for the better part of a decade (long before “Black Friday”) and Michigan can’t seem to get everyone in line behind a piece of legislation. Thus, the current fraternity of states with online gaming or poker – Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware – doesn’t look to be expanding, at least with either of these two states.
