California Online Poker Bill Proceeds Out of Committee
Key Takeaways
  • The California Assembly Appropriations Committee rejected appeals from several Indian Tribes to block Assemblyman Adam Gray’s bill (AB 431) to regulate online poker, and voted 14-0 to move the bill out of committee.
  • The arguments for and against the issue are likely to be fully displayed at the next hearing which comes with the title, “The Legality of Internet Poker–How Prepared is California to Regulate It?” The hearing will be held on June 24, but will not include a vote—it will be purely informational.

The California Assembly Appropriations Committee rejected appeals from several Indian Tribes to block Assemblyman Adam Gray’s bill (AB 431) to regulate online poker, and voted 14-0 to move the bill out of committee.

The committee received two letters, one from a coalition including PokerStars, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and several card rooms in support of the bill, and one from several tribes, including the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians arguing that the bill should die in committee.