https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...s-14888319.php

As usual, the battle rages on between card clubs and tribal casinos. In this case, tribal casinos are proposing that only they and racetracks could offer sportsbetting in California (once it's legalized), and that only the racetracks would pay a 10% tax to the state.



This isn't likely to pass, but this is a pretty ballsy proposal which really speaks volumes about how self-serving these tribes really are.

Indian gambling, once thought to be a solution to widespread tribal poverty and social issues, has mostly been a failure in that respect. It has greatly enriched a tiny percentage of the tribal population, while the typical tribe member has seen little benefit. Furthermore, due to the silly "sovereign land" rules, these tribes do not answer to state or federal governments whenever malfeasance occurs at their casinos, and they also cannot be sued outside of their own tribal courts.

They have also taken aim at card rooms in a different way recently, attempting to effectively ruin the player-banked games in those rooms, by forcing all active players on banking duty. This has not become law yet, but California's gaming commission is considering it, likely due to lobbying money flowing to make it happen. However, the card rooms aren't completely innocent here, either, as they have been abusing the "player banked" concept for many years, sometimes not letting players actually bank the games at all.