California Tribes Fight for Online Poker

As online gambling in the United States continues to create a stir, the debate over California Indian tribes’ desire to provide online poker has arisen once again.

In August 2009, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians created a group called the California Tribal Intrastate Internet Poker Consortium LLC. Together with Commerce Casino and Bicycle Club, the new group attempted to gather other native tribes to support their fight for online poker. Unfortunately, the deal never came to fruition, but the Morongo Band has refused to back down.

“We’re still reaching out to different tribes,” says spokesperson Patrick Dorinson.

Meanwhile, another native group, the California Tribal Business, continues to voice its resistance. The group believes that Morongo’s deal would violate existing exclusivity contracts for casino tribes. The state currently receives $1 million per day from gaming compacts, and the online poker deal could compromise it. They are also worried that online gambling would prevent players from travelling to tribal land-based casinos, cutting off a valuable revenue source for many native tribes in California.

On February 9, the Senate Governmental Organization Committee will discuss online poker. Although legislation has yet to be passed, it has not stopped industry insiders from considering the possible revenue streams online poker could produce. According to a recent survey 1.4 million California residents currently play poker online already – but it benefits offshore operators instead of the state.

Tags: California online poker, Morongo tribe, online gambling legislation

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