By Adam Ulick | April 22, 2008

It is still a long way away, but the possibility of intrastate online poker in California took another step closer to reality last week.California’s Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (AGOC), with not one dissenting vote, approved a bill which will authorize a study of online poker within state borders, sending it on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further review.

AB 2026 would direct the Department of Justice to work with the California Gambling Control Commission on said study.

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Woodland Hills) authored the bill.He wants the residents of his state to not only be able to play poker online 100% legally, but to also feel secure in the knowledge that their money is safe.“Millions of people in California are playing poker online for money,” he said.“It’s illegal according to the federal government but they are still doing it nonetheless. Right now they are gambling in such a way that they have no protection.The servers are in places like Bermuda and Isle of Man. That means Californians have no protection if something goes wrong.”

Levine received support in the AGOC hearing from witnesses representing several California card rooms, as well an organization called Poker Voters of America.One point made by Rod Blonien, who testified on behalf of the card rooms, was that the card rooms fill their tables to capacity on weekend nights and cannot serve all of the people who want to play.Thus, allowing intrastate online poker would allow them to still serve those customers who decide to go back home and play online, instead.

Should the bill be approved, the study’s findings would be presented to the state Legislature by June 30, 2009.  

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