M ONT H I N M I NUT ES
RIGHT TO
REPLY 13%
WHAT’S KEEPING
CALIFORNIA?
MARTIN OWENS
ATTORNEY SPECIALISING IN
ONLINE GAMING
On the face of things, it would seem
that California is the prime prospect
for expansion of internet gambling
in the US. For openers, it already
has internet gambling, in the form
of horse race betting. Its population
of 38 million guarantees there
would be no liquidity problem.
The Golden State is one of
the most tech savvy jurisdictions
anywhere, home to Silicon Valley
itself. And even with recent
economic difficulties, the state of
California, all by itself, would be one
of the top 10 economies in the world.
So with near perfect conditions in its
favour, how come internet gambling
isn’t booming there?
The answer is politics. The
opposition does not come from
conservatives or fundamentalists but
from the other vested interests who
already hold gambling licences in
the state. But ?rst and foremost are
California’s Indian tribes who have
opened gambling businesses.
Two bills were proposed for the
California Senate this session. State
Sen. Rod Wright is the point man
for repeated attempts to legalise
internet gambling. He is one of the
few state legislators in the nation
who has thoroughly educated
himself on the realities of this
industry. His colleague, Sen. Correa,
represents the other pole.
But in May 2013, a coalition of
California gambling tribes published
an unofficial version of what internet
gambling ought to look like here.
Simply put, conditions are rigged
so that the richest, most successful
gambling tribes will rule the roost.
This move by the bigger tribes
shows supposed consensus on
internet gambling in California is
mostly illusory. Those who seek to
deny everyone else’s access to the
market are only blocking their own.
8
MONTH IN
NUMB3RS
Betfair’s year-onyear revenue
decline for the
three months
ended 31 July
See news on p14
€250m
Estimated gross
gaming revenue for
Spanish-facing
operators in 2013,
according to
JDigital
Read our feature
on p29
NEW SEASON
15%
Rate of the point
of consumption
tax, due to be
implemented by
December 2014
See p11
$576m
Amount of cash at
Playtech’s disposal
at 30 June 2013,
boosted by sale of
its stake in William
Hill Online
Read our analysis
on p23
Bodog becomes the official
Asian betting partner of
Arsenal, one of many deals
signed between egaming
operators and professional
football clubs for the start
of the new season
UNIBET
FAMILY
TREE
Unibet has announced
a target to achieve a
top five position in the
UK sportsbook market
and recently saw the
departure of its head of
poker Steve Cutler
www.egrmagazine.com