California Has 6 Racetracks in Addition to the Cal Expo Track at the State Fair
California iPoker Bill
The California horse racing industry is stalemated regarding the future of the online gambling niche, if ever the Golden State decides to legalize Internet gaming. Ed Comins, president of one of the state’s horse racing venues, says the racetracks are a “sticking point” on the online gambling issue.
Mr. Comins, who is WatchandWager’s president, said both tribal gaming interests are against racetracks having online gaming portals. They want to control the industry and not allow potential rivals gain a football, so it appears the racinos will not be able to launch poker sites, despite having casino-style slot machines at their brick-and-mortar locations.
7-Tribe Pechanga Coalition Blocks the Bill
Comins said in an interview, “I think the fundamental issue is that certain tribes, not all, still believe that they should be the only operators, and the card clubs, the only operators in (Internet) poker.”
He added, “The racetracks believe they should be included because we’ve never been allowed slot machines or land-based poker. We have to survive on our horseracing business.”
Ed Comins is referring to a 7-tribe coalition led by the Pechanga tribe, which wants to limit online poker to the land-based tribal casinos and the private clubs. Their argument is that racetrack-casinos do not have poker tables, therefore they should not be allowed to service online poker.
Supporting the Racing Industry
The racetrack association argues the spirit of the proposed new law. They argue that Internet gambling is being passed to help gaming operations generate more cash. Since the racetracks tend to struggle as much or more than any other gaming venues in the state, any new iPoker law should be designed to help the racing interests, too.
Pechanga Offered a Compromise
The Native American coalition offered to compromise with the racetracks, saying they would offer revenue sharing and an affiliate market. The racing industry turned down that offer, saying they did not want handouts from the tribal operations. Instead, said Del Mar Thoroughbred Club COO Josh Rubenstein in an interview, the racetracks want “a level playing field.”
The Card Clubs’ Stance
Comins says that the private card clubs maintain a relatively neutral stance on the issue. While they are not in opposition to the racetracks getting involved in iPoker, they also do not plan on spending political capital to help potential rivals included in the bill.
He said that the Los Angeles poker clubs want to get some kind of legislation on the books, so they can launch online gambling sites and start building a revenue stream. He said, “The card clubs seem to want to get it done, and you know, they’re not overly supporting the tracks but they are willing to support a bill that will include us. It’s really just that simple situation between the tracks and Pechanga.”
Political Stalemate
At present, the two sides appear to be in a political stalement. Pechanga has the political clout to spike any online gambling bill which they do not like, but they do not have enough influence to push their own bill through, disregarding other parties. Gov. Jerry Brown has said that he plans on vetoing any bill which leaves California’s horse racing industry out in the cold.
If the racetrack industry were to get behind a bill, then Dave Palermo of Online Poker Report says that an online poker bill could make it through the State Senate and the State Assembly. Like in the case of Jerry Brown, the racetracks maintain a wellspring of goodwill among a coterie of politicians.
50,000 Employees Are Attention-Getting
Ed Comins says there are good reasons for that support. Recently, at the Cal Expo in Sacramento, which is run by his WatchandWager organization, Comins said one visit to his venue or others like it in the state are enough to convince legisators to support the racing industry. Of the racetrack industry in California, Comins said, “It’s probably employing about 50,000 people in the state and the tracks are in a very urban area, so it’s very important in terms of unions and votes.”
The problem is, California’s Indian casinos employ many more workers. Two rather large sources of jobs cannot agree on what is best for for the state’s gaming industry. In either case, they appear to believe what is best for their enterprise is best for California. It is reminiscent of a parallel stalemate between the Pechanga coalition and the Morongo coalition. In that case, Morongo has a deal with PokerStars and wants the world’s top poker site included in the online gambling industry. Pechanga is fighting to have PokerStars barred from California, knowing they would be an unbeatable competitor.
