One tribe proposing legalization of Internet poker in California, by Jim Miller - The Press Enterprise - 12th August 2009

SACRAMENTO - The Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning is at the forefront of an effort to craft legislation legalizing online poker in California.

The influential Inland tribe, which runs a successful casino off Interstate 10, has collaborated with some Southern California card clubs on a proposal to create a "tribal intrastate Internet poker consortium." It aims to make California the first state with online poker that complies with federal law.

"This would be a game for Californians, run by Californians," said Patrick Dorinson, a spokesman for the tribe. Participating tribes, card clubs and the cash-strapped state would share in the revenue, but an exact split hasn't been determined, he said.

There are an estimated 2,300 online poker sites generating $4 billion in revenue. An estimated 1 million Californians play online poker.

The sites avoid 2006 federal restrictions on online poker by operating outside the U.S. Under some legal interpretations, federal law would allow online poker when players are in the same state as computer servers hosting the games.

No bill has emerged and there is no author for the proposal so far. Any measure would be considered during the final four weeks of the legislative year after lawmakers return Monday from their summer recess.

Already, though, the idea has received a cool reception by some other tribes with casinos.

The California Tribal Business Alliance, which includes several wealthy tribes with casinos, this week announced its opposition to the idea.

In a letter, the group called the online card game proposal "ill-conceived" and warned that it could lead to "the wholesale expansion of non-Indian, off-reservation gambling in California" by potentially bringing casino-style machines to card rooms.

"It's way too complicated to rush something through at the end of session," said Alison Harvey, the alliance's executive director.

In the Inland area, the Morongo tribe belongs to the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, which includes several tribes with casinos in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The normally tightknit group has taken no position on the online card game proposal. Two nearby group members with large casinos -- the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians near San Bernardino and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in the Coachella Valley -- also are neutral.

Morongo officials have been briefing tribal leaders from around the state in recent days. No other tribes have endorsed the proposal, Dorinson said.

The two legislators whose districts include the Morongo reservation and casino have not been approached about the tribe's proposal.

State Sen. John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, questioned if there would be enough time to consider online poker legislation before lawmakers adjourn their regular session Sept. 11. Prison reform and water are expected to dominate the end-of-session agenda.

"I'm all ears. But it certainly would be an uphill battle to get it done in the time frame they're talking about," Benoit said.

Federal legislation

The online poker proposal has been in the works for several months. Talk of its introduction as a bill comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to consider related legislation.

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez introduced a measure last week to regulate online poker and other games. In a news release, the senator's office said the legislation could raise up to $3 billion in revenue while protecting players from unscrupulous offshore poker sites.

"Pulling Internet poker out of the shadows and into the light of the law, we have the opportunity to help our economy while protecting our families," Menendez said in a statement.

Dorinson said the California proposal would ensure that revenue from online poker played here would help the state.

At least one online poker group is skeptical about the idea.

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, said the California proposal would give a monopoly to just a few entities. California, he said, instead should license a variety of online poker sites or host its own games. The players alliance is funded by the Canada-based Interactive Gaming Council, which represents online poker sites.

The Schwarzenegger administration does not have a position on online poker, a spokeswoman said.

Last summer, the Legislature considered a bill that would have legalized online poker. It stalled after major opposition from some tribes and tribal organizations, including the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations.

Political fights

Underlying the latest proposal is the recent acrimony between some of the groups involved.

In 2004, tribal casinos defeated a ballot measure pushed by card clubs and horse tracks that would have ended the tribes' monopoly on slot machines.

In 2007 and 2008, some members of the tribal business alliance spent millions in an unsuccessful campaign to overturn 2006 casino-expansion agreements between the state and the Morongo tribe, along with several others.

Last year, the tribes joined forces to push through legislation to ban devices in some nontribal bingo halls run by various charities. Critics called the devices illegal slot machines. But opponents of the bill said it hurt the charities' fundraising. (Credit: The Press Enterprise)

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Poker in the Park Today, PKR News - 13th August 2009

An excitement filled two days are about to get underway at Leicester Square in London, as Poker in the Park returns.

Starting at 5.30pm today and then at 12.30pm tomorrow, it will be two days of big names, games and more.

The poker names include Jamie Gold, Peter Eastgate, Liv Boeree, Neil Channing, John Tabatabai, and Ian Frazer.

Other happenings include stalls from all the big brands in poker, including the London Poker Circuit, BlackBelt Poker, Littlewoods and PKR. Pub teams from Britain will also be in attendance playing at the PKR Poker Dome. It's all free!

There's also satellites to the £500 Jamie Gold Charity Tournament as well as Sit-n-Go tournaments that will run at the Casino at the Empire during the festival.

Unibet Lecture Schedule

Thursday, August 13th

17.15 Jamie Gold Welcome speech and Charity tournament
18.00 Peter Eastgate Q&A with current World Champion
18.45 Alex Rousso Know the stats
19.30 Nik Persaud Using the internet to improve your game
20.15 Neil Channing Understanding tells

Friday, August 14th

12.30 Derek Webb New poker games
13.15 Nik Wealthall Luck in Poker
14.00 Derek Kelly Omaha
14.45 Paul Jackson Hand analysis
15.30 Liv Boeree tba
16.15 Tony Cascarino tba
17.00 Michael Greco tba
17.45 Alex Rousso tba
18.30 John Tabatabai tba
19.15 Derek Kelly Book reading
20.00 Ian Frazer Starting out in online poker
20.45 Jamie Gold tba


PKR Poker Dome Schedule

Thursday, August 13th

17.30 Nuts Magazine Tournament
18.30 BLAPO.co.uk Poker Events
19.30 Nuts Poker League Championship
20.30 Bubble Poker League

Friday, August 14th

12.30 Nuts Magazine Tournament
13.30 Get Noticed Poker Open
14.30 The Royal Surrey Tournament
15.30 Pokerinthepub.com
16.30 Masters poker league Tournament
17.30 The Poker tree Open
18.30 Red tooth Poker Open
19.30 Champions league poker Open
20.30 London Poker Meet-up Tournament


PKR Software Upgrade

PKR.com has had another major boost. The key new feature are the 'cards up tables', players can now choose to play on tables that always display their hole cards rather than having to press the 'show cards' button to view their hand. This will prove a must for multitablers.

British players now can instantly fund their accounts via PayPal, which is one of the most popular and safest ewallets around.

Marketing Director Simon Prodger said "We always listen to the needs of our players and try to respond accordingly. Many of the new updates are based on player suggestions and we are already working on the next version to bring even more improvements to our users."

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Win Multiple Summer Jackpot Prizes at Titan Poker

12th August 2009

This summer players can enjoy three incredible jackpot promotions with generous cash prizes at Titan Poker

The $50,000 Summer Jackpot Race (http://www.titanpoker.com/summer_jackpot.html) is based on daily and weekly races where points are accumulated and placed on a leader-board. The top 50 players at the end of the month will share in a jackpot prize of $30,000. The Summer Jackpot takes place on four consecutive days and if a player finishes in the top 10 for four days in a row they will be rewarded a prize of $500. All players have an equal chance of winning their share in the weekly and monthly prizes, as well as the side-pot jackpot.

The Titan Double Tournament (http://www.titanpoker.com/titan_double.html) takes place every night, just five minutes apart. If a Titan Poker player wins two tournaments on the same night they will be rewarded with the Titan Double Progressive Jackpot. This jackpot continuously increases until the pot is won.

Fort Knox - Jackpot Sit 'N' Go Tournament (http://www.titanpoker.com/fortknox.html) will reward players who win six Tournaments in a row with a grand prize starting at $50,000. The Fort Knox is a six-player, $50 + $9 sit 'n' go tournament. As soon as six players sit down at the table, the action begins. The Jackpot is progressive and grows larger each week until claimed.

Titan Poker invites both amateur and skilled poker players to take part in these three superb Summer Jackpots. This promotion is for a limited time -- the earlier players join, the sooner they can start to reap the rewards.

About Titanpoker.com:
TitanPoker.com is Europe's number one online poker room and part of the iPoker Network. Titan Poker's software is developed and maintained by Playtech, a public company and leading gaming software developer. With nearly 30,000 online players at peak hours, Titan Poker guarantees $16,000,000 in monthly prizes, features special sit 'n' go tournaments with progressive jackpots as high as $100,000, and awards players with entries to major worldwide poker tournaments. Titan Poker VIP players enjoy the highest online poker rewards. The Titan Poker brand is promoted exclusively by Euro Partners (http://www.europartners.com).

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Poker In The Park Hits London

For the third year running London’s Leicester Square will play host to Europe’s largest Poker festival.

Poker in the Park will take place on Thursday 13th of August and continue until Friday 14th.

Join poker enthusiasts from across Europe as they descend on Leicester Square for free poker lessons and tutorials as well as hourly free poker tournaments. With stalls selling discounted poker gear and books and with the UK’s biggest poker leagues in attendance you won’t want to miss out on this spectacular poker event.

Come along and you’ll also get a chance to meet some of the UK’s biggest celebrity players. If that’s not enough former WSOP Main Event Winner Jamie Gold will be hosting a charity tournament and current WSOP Champion will also be there giving lectures on improving your game. This years Poker in the Park promises to be a fantastic event so be sure to get down there and take part.

Thursday 13th of August – (17:00 - 21:30)

Friday 14th of August – (12:00 - 21:30)


PKR Headline Sponsor At Poker In The Park!

PKR are, for a second year in a row, lead sponsors of Poker in the Park, Europe’s largest poker festival. Held on the 13th & 14 of August in Leicester Square, PKR will be hosting one of the festival’s main attractions, The Poker Dome.

PKR will be welcoming an array of Pub Poker Leagues into the Poker Dome to host their respective tournaments during the festival. Each league will run an hour-long No Limit Hold’em Tournament with a maximum of 80 runners. These tournaments are free to play and open to anyone who registers at the PKR Poker Dome.

PKR will also be teaming up with glamorous massage company Xhilarate, who will have their own space within the Poker Dome and will offer an exclusive massage therapy service to attendees of the festival.

Also present at the Poker Dome will be members of Team PKR Pro, recently back from the WSOP and happy to join in on the festivities at Poker in the Park.

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