Online poker took center stage in California in February

California is the largest state in the US at 38.8 million people. If it were its own country, California would be the 35th largest in the world, sandwiched in between Sudan and Poland. In February, all eyes were on the Golden State’s deliberate, contentious march towards legalized online poker.

The newest online poker bill in California is AB 2863, introduced at the end of February by Assemblymen Adam Gray and Reggie Jones-Sawyer. The bill licenses and regulates online poker, allows sites to team up to increase liquidity, and permits up to two skins per license. The downside: as the bill is currently written, anyone who plays on an unregulated site could be subject to a felony.

“Making it a felony is outrageous,” Poker Players Alliance Vice President of Player Relations Rich Muny said about AB 2863. “A player could make an innocent mistake or, for a variety of reasons, end up on a non-regulated site or game. The PPA is not in support of the criminalization aspect of this bill.”

One of the keys to AB 2863 is that the bill allocates up to $60 million per year to the horse racing industry, according to PokerNews. Robyn Black, a lobbyist for the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, was quoted in PokerNews as saying, “We applaud the chairman [Adam Gray] for recognizing the importance of racing in California. I think this is a great place to start a dialogue. I believe what he’s trying to do is get everyone back to the table to have a discussion.”

According to California Online Poker, Governor Jerry Brown “won’t sign any bill that isn’t supported by the horseracing industry.” Therefore, getting the state’s storied racing industry on board appears to be of the utmost importance.

Not everyone is optimistic about online poker’s chances in California in 2016. Take Assemblyman Mike Gatto, who has been intricately involved in the fight to regulate the industry in the Golden State. In the middle of February, Gatto told PokerNews that he gave an online poker bill less than a 10% chance of passing in 2016.

Mike Gatto is not optimistic about California online poker in 2016

“There’s plenty of money to be made having safe, regulated online poker in California,” Gatto contended. “Plenty of money to be made by various different entities… There are so many ways to configure this so that everybody is happy, and that’s the point I tried to make during the process. But apparently these arguments are falling on deaf ears because I didn’t sense a will for any of the parties to get this thing done.”

New York Bill Advances Out of Committee

On the second day of February, S5302B passed out of the Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee by a 9-0 vote. Bill sponsor John Bonacic was quoted on Online Poker Report as saying, “S5302B took a necessary step forward today with its vote out of the Racing Committee. The Bill now goes to the Finance Committee and I anticipate having ongoing discussions with my colleagues in both Houses regarding this bill as session moves forward.”

No hearing has been scheduled in the Finance Committee as of yet. Movement in New York seems to parallel movement in Pennsylvania; the more the latter acts, the more New York is pressured into following suit. New York and Pennsylvania border each other and both have robust land-based casino industries.

Presidential Election and Online Poker

The Republican Presidential primary is going strong. In February, the PPA sent out an e-mail to members sharing concerns about Florida Senator Marco Rubio, one of the three front-runners in the race. Muny called Rubio the “sole overt online poker prohibitionist candidate in either of the two major parties.”

The PPA is concerned with Marco Rubio’s online poker stance (photo: ABC News)

However, a PPA member asked Rubio a question related to online poker at a town hall meeting in South Carolina in February. Rather than dismiss regulating the industry entirely, Rubio seemed open. Muny explained that “while Rubio opposes online casino-style games, he sees poker as a game of skill and is ‘open to considering poker.'” Primaries run until mid-June.

Hypothetical Pennsylvania and New Jersey Compact

Currently, Nevada and Delaware share liquidity. The two states combined have a population of four million people, but if Pennsylvania and New Jersey were to team up, the combined pool would be four times that size.

Pennsylvania needs to license and regulate online poker first, and there was virtually no movement on that front in February. Nevertheless, chatter emerged that the two adjacent states could team up, with Online Poker Report speculating that two to three full-scale sites or networks could thrive in a combined Pennsylvania/New Jersey market.

bwin.party and 888 already have relationships with land-based casinos in Pennsylvania, and both brands also exist in New Jersey. bwin.party has partnered with a yet-to-be-named brick-and-mortar casino should online gaming become regulated in Pennsylvania, while 888 has teamed up with Mount Airy Casino.

PokerStars is another option for a combined Pennsylvania/New Jersey market. PokerStars is already licensed in New Jersey and will launch on March 21, but it still needs a dance partner in Pennsylvania.

Washington State Online Poker Bill is Dead

According to CardPlayer, a push to regulate online poker in Washington State died in mid-February, at least for 2016. Representatives Sherry Appleton and Vincent Buys introduced HB 1114, but the topic was not addressed for the second straight year. It’s a felony to play online poker in Washington State.