Several US industry observers have commented on the apparent lack of activity so far this year regarding online poker legalisation initiatives, and Online Poker Report offered a possible reason following an interview with Rep. Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a long-time driver of legalisation proposals in the state over the past decade.
Jones-Sawyer said that he would not be launching a new drive this year, instead devoting his efforts to repair trust and relationships between interested parties and state legislators, and explaining that perhaps the push was too aggressive last year, raising tensions and pitting parties with vested interests against one another.
The state legislature additionally has other major legislation before it this year, demanding the time and attention of lawmakers, and it would therefore probably be a good time to rebuild relationships and start from scratch next year, he added.
“I don’t want to sound like a minister or psychologist, but we’ve got to start from ground zero where we’ve got to at least get people to want to try to get it done again,” Jones-Sawyer said. “When I first started on this in earnest, we were going slow and methodical, and we had some successes. We weren’t trying to rush anyone and we weren’t pitting one side against the other, as best we could.”
InfoPowa readers will know that for the past ten years efforts to legalise online poker in potentially the biggest market in the US have foundered amid conflicting needs and demands from a diversity of entities ranging from tribal gambling concerns and state cardrooms to online poker providers and racetrack owners.
Although some gaps have been closed, key elements like the much debated bad actor clauses remain serious obstacles.