Rumors suggest that there are 10 states that are contemplating that legalization of online poker and will soon join the ranks of Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey in legalizing online poker.
Out of those 10 states, California is reported to be the state that will most likely be the one to legalize online poker as state legislature analyzes the different bills and debates that follow the legalization of online poker.
Recently, the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel’s said that they plan to launch an online poker website called PrivateTable and stated that it would be perfectly legal as the laws that govern tribal casinos will not be violated.
The announcement surprised by poker players in California as well as state legislature as it gave them a number of things to consider.
The General Manager of the Santa Ysabel Casino and President of PrivateTable.com, David Chelette said
If you take a close look at the proposed bills you will see that they do not take into consideration tribes current right to offer and regulate class II gaming and virtually makes it impossible for most tribes to participate. As California gets closer to the final draft of the proposed legislation we are hoping to have an opportunity to provide some input as to how it could better allow Santa Ysabel and other small to mid-level gaming Tribes a way to participate within a state-licensed online gaming structure
The tribe will look to launch privatetable.com at the earliest and be the first to capture a significant portion of the online poker market in California. Speaking on behalf of the tribe, Chelette said that due to the heightened discussions of poker in California, the aware of poker as a sport was at its highest and the tribe wanted to take full advantage of the promotion of poker and set up operations at the earliest.
The PrivateTable poker website will be governed by the Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission. All the main servers that are used to host the online website will be located in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, which is a Native American tribal reservation.
Chelette said that while California is yet to pass an official law that regulates online gambling, the PrivateTable website is being designed to be in compliance with the current federal law and California state law. If there are any changes made in the future, then the tribe will ensure that those changes are immediately incorporated so that the PrivateTable website is always in compliance at all times.
