World Poker Fund Holdings Hires Gambling Law Expert Martin Owens

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Tuesday, July 28th, 2015 | Written by Stephen Smith

The World Poker Fund Holdings (WPFH) was formed earlier this year with the assistance of chief backer US rapper Soulja Boy (photo), and has the stated mission of helping develop the poker industry by making the game more entertaining and accessible to the general public. This week, the company subsequently hired online gaming law expert, Martin Owens, as the firm’s chief adviser with one of his primary roles being to forge relationships with Native American tribes across America. One state of prime importance, however, is the country’s wealthiest territory, California, and following his appointment the high-profile lawyer commented:

“This is a very exciting project. The players, the technology, the platforms are all coming together right here in California. It’s time to bring online poker up to its full potential, in the USA and all over the world.”

Working With Native American Tribes

One of the many ways in which the WPFH has gone about achieving its goals is by helping the country’s Native American tribes raise funds to gain federal recognition, and to petition for various laws enabling them to establish casino and online poker operations. The appointment of Martin Owens therefore represents a key step in that direction, with the lawyer having specialized in internet gambling law since 1998, and his many contributions to the subject including assisting in the books ‘Internet Gaming Law’, and ‘Gaming Law Review and Economics: Regulation, Compliance, and Policy’, as well as contributions to sports specialty service TheSportsNetwork.com.

Looking To Grab Slice Of Californian Market

California is touted to become one of the country’s next regulated online gambling jurisdictions, and as the USA’s biggest and wealthiest state would represent the ‘jewel in the crown’ of any gambling company’s business. When and if the industry does go live, WPFH is looking to be one of the frontrunners to grab a slice of the lucrative action, and is currently working on developing online gaming and poker platforms to that end. Currently the company’s Web Gaming activities include the regulated states of Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey, but as mentioned on the WPFH website:

“We will be developing an internet poker platform in California as soon as it becomes legalized. We will also be developing and setting up internet poker and gambling platforms throughout the country within sovereign rights under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.”

California Ready For Online Poker

After its legislature reconvenes on August 17th, California will get its best shot yet of becoming the country’s next regulated iPoker market with one piece of legislation already introduced including Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer’s Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act (AB167), which seeks to authorize, regulate and license internet gambling operations. According to estimates, the Golden State stands to generate between $200 million and $450 million annually in state taxes from online poker, however, up until now progress has been blocked by the various disparate gaming interests squabbling over who should and should not be part of a future industry. The ground has seemed to shift recently, though, and as John Pappas, executive director of the national Poker Players Alliance, explains:

“The stakeholders in California were too fractured for it to be realistic before. While there is still considerable tension between the varying interests, they have all agreed that regulation of iPoker is a good thing. Now they are just fighting over who gets what.”

The PokerStars Connection

One company determined to be part of a future regulated market is PokerStars, which over the past few weeks has devoted considerable resources to raising awareness and support for online poker across the whole of California. To this end, the world’s biggest poker room launched its promotional campaign entitled ‘Let California Play!’ in which some of its biggest sponsored players, including Daniel Negreanu, Jason Somerville, Vanessa Selbst, and Chris Moneymaker, have been competing against against local residents in a series of special poker tournaments hosted by the state’s various cardrooms.

In addition, PokerStars also helped launch the ‘Californians for Responsible iPoker’ website last month, whose chief principles include allowing all gambling interests to take part in the industry, and the setting up of effective responsible gambling measures. As Lee Jones, PokerStars’ director of poker communications, explains:

“There are millions of poker players in California, and they deserve to be able to play poker in the comfort of their own homes. Until iPoker is regulated in California, online players are going to play at unauthorized sites, which puts them at risk. Yes, there is risk in gambling, but when you play online poker, you should be able to play knowing that your financial information is protected and that you will be paid your winnings.”