Just recently, politicians decided to shelve two bills that would’ve legalized and regulated California online poker. However, that doesn’t mean the prospects of California online poker are finished in 2014. The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel still wants to launch a poker site by the end of August.
The Native American tribe, which is located near San Diego, operates a play money site called PrivateTable.com. Now they hope to become pioneers regarding real money online poker in California. But why would they jump into the market ahead of legislation? Moreover, is what the Santa Ysabel proposes to do legal? Let’s discuss these questions below.
Proposed California Online Poker Legislation only helps the Rich get Richer
Dave Vialpando, Chairman of the Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission, sees injustice in California online poker legislative efforts. Specifically, he believes that only the richest tribes stand to benefit from the two bills that were proposed this year.
“The current proposed legislation excludes all but the wealthiest gaming tribes from engaging in state-regulated online gaming,” Vialpando previously said. “Smaller or remotely located tribes, like Santa Ysabel, would not be able to meet the financial prerequisites for participation in online gaming as currently proposed, in spite of their years of experience conducting and regulating brick-and-mortar Class II and Class III gaming.”
Vialpando also thinks that potential iPoker legislation gives state gaming regulators too much control over tribal online poker. He says that despite years of success for tribal brick-and-mortar casinos in California, the bills propose to give more iGaming authority to “relatively inexperienced” state gaming bodies.
The Legality of Santa Ysabel’s Poker Operation
One common thought on Santa Ysabel’s move into the California online poker market is whether the state or federal government would intervene. The tribe doesn’t seem to be worried about this, nor do they think legislation has to be in place for them to offer iPoker. Here’s an excerpt from the Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission website that explains their stance:
In offering online gaming through Santa Ysabel Interactive, the Tribe is exerting its sovereign right under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) to regulate and conduct Class II gaming from the tribe’s reservation. Class II gaming, as defined by IGRA, includes poker and bingo, but does not include slot-based games or house-banked games, such as blackjack. House-banked games and slot machines are defined as Class III games, and can only be offered in a tribal casino upon agreement with the state through a Tribal-State Gaming Compact.
Because the tribe doesn’t plan to offer online slots or house-banked table games, they won’t be violating the Tribal-State Gaming agreement. So it looks like Californians will soon have a regulated outlet for online poker without the state government interceding.