SoCalSportsChick.com

Could online poker become legal again in the state of California? California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is intending to raise that issue in a new study bill aimed at convincing the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) and the Department of Justice of just that. This assembly bill titled AB2026 will be introduced on March 20th, 2008. The study bill will acertain the legalities of intrastate online poker and why should it become legal in California. If this bill comes to fruition, The Governor along with Legislature will have control over the operations and that California online poker players will be protected. According to Assemblyman Levine, “Our understanding of the law is that as the player and server (hosting the online game) are in California, it would be legal.” He goes on to add that that is what they are trying to find out.

Since October, 2006 when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed, online gambling in the United States has taken a big hit. Buried in a bill that was created to stop terrorism in the US this act makes many forms of online gambling illegal; online poker being one of them. This act also sparked the debate over whether or not poker is a game of skill or a game of luck and whether or not the game is a form of gambling.

If online poker is legalized in the state of California it could create a nice little power boost for our state’s economy.