One of the bills that many hoped would legalize online poker in California has been shelved, making it doubtful that there will be any movement by the state legislature on the issue this year.

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The bill’s author, State Senator Lou Correa (pictured), concluded that due to continual disagreements between the Golden State’s gambling interests, there wouldn’t be enough time to make sufficient revisions to the legislation and take a vote before the end of this year’s legislative session.

“Internet poker is an important public policy. We need to make sure it’s done right,” he told the LA Times.

Many see the move as a major setback for the push to legalize Internet poker in California, as Correa’s bill had been debated for five years in the state legislature. But with Indian casinos, horseracing operators, brick-and-mortar card clubs, and online poker companies all fighting for the best possible terms, a consensus has been hard to come by.

In June, 13 of the state’s Indian tribes announced that they had reached a compromise on language for a potential bill. “In achieving consensus for Internet poker, we reaffirm our commitment to the longstanding principle of limited gaming that has guided California’s public policy toward gaming,” they said in a letter to Correa.

But the legislation on which they had settled is unacceptable to sites like PokerStarssince it would include language to bar companies who continued to operate in the state after the UIGEA was passed via “bad actor” clauses. The online poker behemoth has its own allies in California and has formed a coalition with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and three of the state’s biggest card clubs.

PokerStars continues to claim that the fight to keep its brand out of the Golden State is simply a move by competitors to stifle competition. “Efforts by a select few interests to rewrite longstanding and effective policy in order to gain a competitive market advantage or to lock out specific companies is not in the best interests of consumers or the state and will be vigorously opposed by our coalition, online poker players, and many others,” said the group in a statement.

Gambling law expert I. Nelson Rose was doubtful that Internet poker would be legalized in California this year due to disagreements among tribes, along with the simple fact that it is an election year. “The politics of this aren’t right for this to get rushed through by the end of this year,” he said. “The state is so large and there are so many tribes and they don’t agree on anything.”

Following Correa’s announcement on Wednesday, a coalition of tribes released a statement recognizing the need to proceed slowly and deliberately with any proposed legislation. “Instilling public confidence in the integrity of state-sanctioned Internet poker is a fundamental principle of ours,” they said. “To that end and in consultation with the bill’s authors, our tribal leaders have concluded that rushing a bill in the closing days of this legislative session will not allow for the level of careful public examination and confidence an issue of this magnitude requires.”

While efforts to regulate online poker have seemingly stalled, Rose believes that the industry will eventually be legalized in the state. Correa, though, will not have a chance to modify his draft due to term limitations.

Another online poker bill, introduced by Reginald Jones-Sawyer Sr., is also pending in the legislature, but has not moved through committee and seems to have little traction.

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