The lawmaker best associated with trying to get California to adopt a legal and regulated online poker regime, Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, has said that he will not be pushing a bill on the issue this year. Instead, Jones-Sawyer will try to reignite the bill next year if the US Supreme Court allows legal federal sports betting. The high court is currently hearing New Jersey’s appeal to have a nation-wide sports betting rule from 1992 revoked, and if it is successful, it could open the floodgates of multiple states applying to legalize their own sports betting industries.
Jones-Sawyer said that online poker is still on the cards because “the Supreme Court ruling will make it more viable.”
“That’s what is happening now,” he said. “We will get there, we just may go through a different door than the traditional one. Sports wagering raises all tides.”
For over ten years, the Golden State has been trying to move forward with the idea of introducing an intrastate online poker market. However, in-fighting among the many interest groups has led to a stalemate year after year.
This year, Jones-Sawyer did not even attempt to introduce a bill, with the deadline for doing so closing on Friday.
“There’s some other issues with tribes and cardrooms that probably need to be resolved before we can move forward with this thing,” Jones-Sawyer said. “I’m hoping we resolve some of that this year.”
Lawmakers do not expect a Supreme Court ruling until June this year and thus timing to introduce sports betting bills in California – with online poker as another option – would probably be next year.
“I’d like to think we can move that fast, but this is California,: he said. “If we have a favorable ruling in June, we’ll have the fall to work on any legislation beginning in 2019. It also gives us time to get opponents and proponents to work together to comply with the federal ruling.”
California will need to make changes to its gambling laws if it wants to keep abreast with the competition. As it is, the state is already behind Delaware, New Jersey, Nevada and, most recently, Pennsylvania, and it is only a matter of time that New York and Michigan will join these states that have opted to move ahead with their online gambling markets.
