August 13, 2009 (CAP Newswire) — The fight to get online poker fully legalized and regulated in California has gotten almost as interesting as the nationwide movement with the same goal.
Now, one of the most influential tribes in the Golden State, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in Southern California, has started a movement to create a statewide alliance to create new legislation legalizing online poker there.
According to the California publication Press-Enterprise, the influential tribe has joined up with some Southern California card clubs (normally competitors) to create a new proposal that would begin a "tribal intrastate Internet poker consortium" aiming to make California the first state with online poker that complies with federal law.
"This would be a game for Californians, run by Californians," said Patrick Dorinson, a spokesman for the tribe, according to the article.
Interestingly, this movement seeks to legalize online poker within the United States’ current legal framework, instead of defying the UIGEA. “Under some legal interpretations, federal law would allow online poker when players are in the same state as computer servers hosting the games,” the article explains.
About a million Californians already play online poker, the article stated.
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