California Fast-tracks Intrastate Internet Poker Bill

Read the marked-up legislation here

Nope, nope, nothing\’s changing, there\’s nothing to see here … all in poker who are insisting that their lives didn\’t just change dramatically are friggin\’ idiots can just keep their heads in the sand reading Pokerati to see what the crazy people are talking about when not pimping 1/2 NL/PLO @hardrockpoker.

But all of the above is irrelevant, right, when we are discussing state bills, as opposed to federal? Technically, yes. However, when you realize that government is like the worst offenders in internet content ganking, you can see why the bill California just officially introduced — SB 1485 — is so significant … as it could become the baseline from which other states would cut and paste without credit or even a linkback!.

And how quickly are they ready to move on this measure? According to eGaming Review:

Intrastate initiatives in California, New Jersey and Florida, [have] been designated as an urgency measure. This means [SB 1485] would go into effect immediately upon legislative passage and signature by the Governor. A non-urgency measure would not go into effect until 1 January 2011.

Wow, that\’s fast! Should we be happy or sad about this? Very hard to say. While internet poker is supposed to be a good thing all-around (right?), would current online poker players believe so if they weren\’t able to transfer FTP Points over to a new site, or have the option to buy a Ferrari with PokerStars Dollars? At the same time, who would care if securing buy-ins at the Commerce were suddenly as easy as purchasing White Widow Indo-kush top-quality marijuana in Cali? Well actually, right now the Indians would care; they don\’t want this bill. Complex issues … to be handled immediately by people who may or may not understand the intricacies of rakeback and multitabling.

Still, regardless, how big might the next WSOP-Circuit event be at Harrah\’s-Rincon?

The plan for California in State Sen. Rod Wright\’s (D-Inglewood) bill is to have online poker ops bid for three state-sanctioned games. Pokerati.com would like to hereby officially start the bidding at $100 $150 … any takers? If we have to go much higher, we\’re gonna need some backers, preferably those with superior eBay skills.

Now keep in mind that bills do change before they get to any governor\’s or president\’s desk. But because of the fast-track nature of SB 1485, there may not be time for too many more edits. Have a look at what they\’re working with … here\’s the actual marked-up bill, which could make California the first state in the US to have fully legal internet poker.