You can’t really blame companies like Cantor Gaming for getting all hot and bothered when they consider the possible profits provided by a state like California should online poker legislation be adopted there. The 2010 census showed more than 37 million residents residing inside California state boundaries, so the estimated population in 2012 or 2013 would have to be north of 38 million. Delaware and Nevada have already adopted legalized online poker legislation, and it also provides for travelers and visitors to their state to also be able to legally play online poker while they are located inside state boundaries.
With a state so popular with tourists as California, that would just be more potential money for companies like Cantor Gaming if and when online poker becomes a reality there. Acting ahead of that eventuality, that company just announced a software deal with a state horse racing group in the Golden State. The Nevada bookmaker certainly hopes California lives up to its nickname in delivering some serious revenue to their company coffers, and they believe that teaming up with Horse Racing United is the best way to get their hands on some of that California gold.
Horse Racing United is a group of California horse racing businesses that have a well respected and age-old presence in California already. Terms of the agreement with Cantor Gaming were not discussed, but the two companies announced that Cantor would be delivering online poker technology for at least one intrastate online poker site. The pair of companies are obviously hoping that online poker legislation is passed in California sooner rather than later, and the more reputable companies which force the issue by developing relationships ahead of legislation may actually help the speed with which that online poker legislation is eventually passed.
And since California’s horse racing industry is the exclusive owner of Internet gambling on horses in that state, that would probably also be part of a package deal with online poker legislation, putting Cantor and Horse Racing United in a very favorable position. Josh Rubinstein is an executive at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and he stated that Horse Racing United plans on working closely with the state of California to provide a legal Internet poker solution that also protects the state, and California jobs. The CEO of Cantor Gaming,Lee Amaitis, did not beat around the bush when he stated that the sheer size of the possible player pool in California is very attractive to his company, and would allow California to immediately become the leader in the online poker industry in the United States.
It is no mystery that there are financial problems in California at the state and federal level, and accessing funds which are currently moving offshore for licensing, taxes and regulation would be a boon to that cash-poor state to say the least. With Nevada located right next door and already well on its way to seeing the first hand of virtual online poker dealt in the United States this year or in early 2013, California may wait to see how that develops. Either way, Internet poker is here to stay in the United States, and could be headed to the Golden State very soon.