California Online Poker Bill Offers 5-Year Ban On PokerStars; Site Fights Back Claiming Terms ‘Unconstitutional’

Law makers in California are hoping to get the online poker bill AB 2863 passed before the legislative session expires at the end of this month. To this end further amendments have been made to appease the opposing native Indian tribes and these include the condition that ‘bad actors’, such as PokerStars face a five year ban in the state.

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The bill had been accepted by the horse racing industry on the basis of the $60 million annual stipend to be received by them provided they refrained from offering poker-related products. However, the Pechanga coalition of tribes had objected to the 10 year ban and $20 million fine for bad actors, offered by the bill’s maker Senator Adam Gray. The tribes had insisted on a fine of $60 million instead.

Last week the bill was pulled off the assembly floor, as no consensus had been reached and neither did it receive much support in its form then.

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Gray has now proposed a five year ban for bad actors, though the penalty amount was not disclosed. The hope is to get the bill passed by the floor on Monday, August 22. Thereafter, it will need a majority vote from the Senate before August 31, in order to become a law this year.

Despite the bill languishing the past nine years, Gray seems highly optimistic and had even gone on record to state that the bill would be “fairly well received in the Senate.”

PokerStars Fights Back

PokerStars though, seems in no mood to accept these terms and has hit back by sending a strong letter to the effect. In New York, the site has teamed up with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, California’s three largest card clubs, the Commerce Casino, Hawaiian Gardens Casino and Bicycle Casino. The group along with Amaya, parent company of PokerStars has issued a letter voicing a strong “No” to the bill.

Going further, the group has dubbed the bill as “unconstitutional” and cited Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard, considered one of the leading global authorities on the Constitution as saying, “these kinds of amendments were first being proposed that, if adopted, they would constitute ‘trial by legislature’; in other words, a bill of attainder absolutely prohibited under the Constitution.”

Though, PokerStars had been banned in 2011, post-Black Friday, the company had made great strides last year and even re-entered the state of New Jersey. Now with the confirmed exit of its controversial CEO, David Baazov, it is expected to make things easier for the company with regulators of US states.