Many pro online poker advocates are in disbelief over the way 2015 has been shaping up in terms of possible regulation by another state.
The regulated ipoker industry has been stuck on three states since late 2013 and that may not change in the coming months. The word out of California is that tribal factions continue to hold up progress with regard to making headway toward approval of online poker legislation.
A recent Western Indian Gaming Conference in California started out on a positive note when a number of tribes agreed that compromise and flexibility was needed to achieve a solution. But that solution appears to be as distant as it ever was over the same old issues that have been hindering movement forward – bad actors and horse racing.
But that’s not the only bad news for Americans hoping that legalized online poker comes to their home state. Dismal revenue numbers from the states that have already regulated igaming is likely keeping other states from joining in.
Should California beat the odds and be next in line to regulate ipoker, it is believed that other states would be prompted to follow suit. But as long as the nation’s largest state remains stalled, it has an adverse effect on regulation spreading to other states.
To top it off, Sheldon Adelson has exerted more effort in pushing across a bill that would ban online gambling on the federal level. Not only would the Restoration of Americas Wire Act (RAWA) stop the spread of online poker regulation, it would wipe out the regimes in New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada.
Legal Internet poker in the U.S. remains an uphill battle, and one in which it appears that 2015 will go by without another state launching. We have already seen ipoker bills die in Washington State and Mississippi this year.
Other hopefuls include Pennsylvania, the state that made the most progress in 2014 by releasing igaming studies and holding hearings to analyze those findings. But the Keystone State may continue to wait and see how things develop elsewhere due to the three factors already mentioned:
- lack of progress in California;
- disappointing igaming revenue in regulated states; and
- push by Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling to advance RAWA.
So what are U.S. online poker players to do since progress is moving so slowly? The only option is to play at poker rooms that cater to the U.S. market. There are many such poker sites to choose from simply by clicking on any of the rooms listed in the upper left hand corner of this page and finding the poker room that meets your needs according to the pros and cons spelled out for each.
We here at [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com”]USAfriendlypokersites.com[/geolink] are rooting for online poker legislation as well, but we want to play while regulation is being sorted out by lawmakers, tribes, and whoever else has a say in the matter. And we know that there are thousands of U.S. players who want to play also.
Regulation efforts may be out of the control of U.S. players, but those same players can control where they play in the meantime. So while California and other states slowly decide what to do, the only choice for players is to decide which U.S.-friendly poker rooms or network to patronize. There are a handful of excellent choices!
