State Initiatives Best Way Forward For US iPoker Industry

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Monday, October 19th, 2015 | Written by Lucy Brown

At this point in time, it seems there is little to no interest in ever legalizing online poker at the national level, so what are those people wanting to legally play in the United States to do? With successful iGaming laws now on the books in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, it’s evident that the best path forward to legal play is through the state legislatures. Currently, there are a number of these movements afoot in states across the US, and here is a look at what’s going on in some of them:

Washington

In the Evergreen State, the Washington iPoker Initiative has been working on drumming up support for online poker legalization since 2012. Led by Curtis Woodward, the group managed to get assistance from a state representative–Sherry Appleton, who sponsored the bill HB 1114 to legalize online poker in Washington. Unfortunately, the bill was never voted on or debated. As Woodard explains:

“HB 1114 will be retained in its current form for the next session, but as of right now there is little to support from industry, state interests, nor players for that bill.”

The online poker company Amaya started to lobby state lawmakers after the bill was introduced; however, the online poker operator appears to want to draft new legislation that would allow them to market to players. In California, this approach has led to conflict with the racing industry, causing legislation to grind to a halt. Woodward and his group are working hard to try and avoid a similar outcome in Washington.

Florida

It is currently a felony to play internet poker in the Sunshine State, but a grassroots organization called the Florida iPoker Initiative is aiming to have the law reversed and the game legalized in state. Martin Shaprio is the leader of the group, which has already developed a possible bill to introduce in Tallahassee. As a extract from the ipokerflorida.com website explains:

“Our ‘Internet Poker Licensing and Consumer Protection Act‘ is sensible legislation to authorize and regulate Internet poker in Florida, written by and for players.”

The proposal would provide Florida with 10 percent of the revenue generated by iPoker and would allow operators to pool players from other states and from international sites to improve liquidity. Now that the bill is finished, the Florida iPoker Imitative is actively looking for lawmakers to sponsor it and is appealing to the public, asking them to contact their local legislators and ask them to sponsor the bill.

“It is essential for Florida poker players to contact the Florida legislators representing their own district to ask them to sponsor our draft bill. The instructions on how to do this are on the ‘Take Action’ section of our website”, explained Martin Shapiro.

The Florida iPoker Initiative is very active on Twitter and Facebook and is also directly lobbying lawmakers in order to gain support. So far, there are no lawmakers on board, but Shapiro has said in interviews that he is optimistic that will change soon.

Arizona, Illinois, Oregon

In Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, small grassroots campaigns have recently been launched to explain the benefits of online poker to try to garner support. Arizona’s seems to be the most organized effort with a complete website available to educate the public about the topic.

Starting a New iPoker Initiative

Don’t live in one of these states? You can still make your voice heard. The first step is to contact your local state lawmakers and let them know about your opinion. Ask them where they stand on the issue and explain your reasons for supporting legalization. Only be demonstrating a critical level of interest will lawmakers subsequently be motivated to pursue state online poker legislation. In 2014, for instance, California Assemblyman Mike Gatto only received around five online poker related emails from a total of 60,000, making any moves towards him pursuing gambling expansion unwarranted.

You can also contact your state’s lottery office, if you have one, to share your opinion about iPoker. Then, take to social media and spread the word to find other players who are like-minded and encourage them to do the same. Players can turn to a formidable ally in this regard, too, as Florida iPoker Initiative leader Shapiro has already expressed his willingness to help online poker players seeking to organize grassroots lobbying efforts.

“I am happy to work with anyone interested in pursuing a similar campaign in their own state. The more states that come on board with a bill being considered by the state legislature, the greater the consensus among lawmakers that this is an issue whose time has come”, explained Shapiro.