California, Massachusetts Introduce Internet Gambling Bills

Politicians in two separate states will soon get to decide whether to legalize internet gambling in their jurisdictions, as it has been announced that California and Massachusetts have had cyber gambling bills introduced to their respective legislatures.

The California bill was introduced by State Senator Lou Correa. The Senator from Santa Ana wants to legalize and regulate internet poker under the California Gambling Control Commission. Previous attempts to pass such legislation have not yielded much success in the state, whose population of 38 million could be a potential goldmine for the gaming market.

It is unknown whether or not the bill will see the substantial roadblocks previous bills have met with. Other attempts at internet gambling in the Golden State have seen tribal operators and land based operators take a staunch stand against any such measure, blocking any realistic chance of passage from the outset.

Correa has designated his bill as being an "urgency statute" that could take effect immediately if 2/3 or more of the Legislature votes for it.

The bill will have its initial hearing in March, and Casino Listings will keep readers up to date with any new developments.

In other news, politicians in Massachusetts have announced that two new cyber betting bills have been introduced through the state's legislature. The two bills, S101 and S197 were introduced respectively by Senator Jennifer Flanagan and Senator Bruce Tarr.

Of the two measure's Flanagan's is the most conservative, allowing only for the intrastate sales of lottery tickets and restricted e-games such as scratch tickets. Tarr's bill would allow the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to oversea internet betting, allowing a wide variety of games that must be different from lottery type offerings.

Interstate agreements are also possible with Tarr's bill, meaning that Massachusetts could potentially partner with states such as Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada to offer pooled betting games such as poker.

As with the California attempt, Casino Listings will keep up on the stories and relate any updated news as it becomes available.