The last week has been tough for those of us in the poker community, even people like me who almost never played online. I have to watch friends of mine who have managed and maintained very healthy incomes from the comfort of their homes have to scramble into the Aria and start figuring out how to maintain that income in live games. I’ve been contemplating all of the friends I’ve got out there who are part of the extensive poker media community who have to assume (since way over 90% of all money supporting their efforts are coming from online poker revenue streams in some form or fashion) that their livelihoods are now threatened. There are thousands of smaller stake online pros nationwide who are simply raising their families and doing so with the income they get from online poker. What in the world are all of these people supposed to do now?!?
I think I have figured out the best option for the next step in the legalization and regulation of online poker. I have named it CalivadaPoker.com and here is what I propose:
It seems that there is some momentum in both the California and Nevada state legislatures to see online poker proceed in some fashion within their states. Nevada’s biggest problem is that to implement an intrastate online poker market, they would be facing a relatively small market but they have an experienced and flexible state gaming commission that over the years has proved itself well able to implement new games and procedures in the gambling marketplace. Additionally, Nevada has a huge influx on a daily basis of gambling tourists coming in and out of the state.
California has the population base and economic strength equivalent to one of the world’s largest nations but a smaller, less flexible and less experienced base of gambling laws and regulators. California also receives a minimal amount of gambling tourists, certainly only a small fraction of what Nevada receives.
Putting the two together could create a pretty powerful two state intrastate online poker market. They’ve the best of both worlds; large population, tons of gambling tourists and loads of experience managing and regulating a variety of gaming variations. Now to the details.
The hardest part I’m sure is getting two different states legislative bodies to work together but if they can, it could be magical. The key is for the states to create and manage the skin that all the casinos and cardrooms in both states play through…let’s call it CalivadaPoker.com. (CPPoker for short). CPPoker would actually be a property that is equally co-owned by the state of Nevada and California and each of the states get 25% of the total rake on all games and tournaments (50% of the total).
Now the key part is the managing of the deposits and withdraws. Every casino and cardroom in both states can register with the state to be an affiliate of CPPoker where all deposits and withdraws can be made. For that service the brick and mortar facility gets say 15-20% of the rake on all the play by the players registered through their property. All deposits and withdraws have to made at the windows in the physical properties. NO violations of UIGEA there, especially since playing poker is legal in both states so playing poker online should not be an “illegal activity” in either state.
The remaining amount of rake would be used to manage the overall operational costs, marketing, and rakeback offers for the players you want to make those offers to.
I would think that this format or something similar to it could work out brilliantly. Imagine for a moment all of the new jobs that would be created in both states at CPPoker.com. How many east coast or middle America online players would migrate to Nevada or California to be in the games full time. Imagine the tourists who could come to town, deposit their money downstairs, then hang in their room for a week or two at a time playing online while ordering room service and emptying their mini-bar day after day. Seems to me it could be a big win for the casinos and cardrooms in both states.
The major win would be for the states. Instead of trying to regulate and only receive a small amount in tax revenue they would actually own the master skin itself and make huge amounts of money in the long run. I would think that over time other states would eventually want to become a part of the CalivadaPoker.com conglomerate. Nevada and California could then decide what small portions of their take they want to parse out to bring those states onboard. Eventually I would think that the overall network would include New Jersey, Mississippi, Illinois and Indiana for sure. Some possible could be Florida, Colorado, the Dekotas, Missouri and a smattering of other states I’m overlooking that have some form of poker legalized in their states.
The big question is, can the states work together and build something like this? It seems to me like if they could it would be huge. The online poker players and all the associated media, management, assistants etc… out there would have a viable way of maintaining their income and lifestyle. The casinos/cardrooms in each state would make a very healthy amount of money on their registered players, plus increase their overall foot traffic and other games rakes. Finally the states would make a HUGE amount of money! Let’s get this done!
