An online poker bill for the state of California is close to passing before the August 31 deadline, but Pokerstars and its partners are practicing obstructionism to stop it.

At issue is the new requirement to force Pokerstars (and all other online gaming companies who accepted bets in the US after 12/31/06) to sit out for 5 years before getting licensed in California.

I feel this is a fair penalty, as Pokerstars had those extra 5 years (actually 4 1/2) in the market to establish dominance, develop better software, and develop stronger brand recognition. So it's not far for them to just show up in the large CA market with that illegally gained advantage.

Anyway, Pokerstars does not like this, and is using its strong influence (va its card room partners) to obstruct the bill in the State Assembly, where a 2/3 vote is needed to pass.

If it does not pass Assembly, it will die.

If Pokerstars and its partners were to support this version of the bill, it would very likely pass and become law in 2017.

Instead, it looks like CA will likely have no legalized online poker for the foreseeable future, thanks to Pokerstars attempting to get a bill more favorable to itself.

http://www.onlinepokerreport.com/219...ate-continues/