PokerStars Pros Push California Regulation

PokerStars Pros Push California Regulation

Monday, 3 August 2015

Three of poker's finest card slingers rode into the Californian capital of Sacramento on Sunday to throw down with the city's finest and teach legislators a thing or two about the game itself.

Strolling into Citrus Heights' Stones Gambling Hall intent on proving their skills to the local crowd, Liv Boeree, Jason Somerville and Chris Moneymaker were part of PokerStars latest push to convince local lawmakers that online poker in California is a good thing.

Using the poker/lobbying effort to bolster the image of poker, the three pros publically supported Assembly Bill 431 while explaining to those in attendance that without regulation, online poker in the US is like the Wild West.

"Online poker is like a Wild West of no regulations for companies that exist offshore. There's no sort of jurisdiction that protects the players – you have no guarantee that the game's fair, you're going to get paid and the government gets no tax revenue," Somerville told The Sacramento Bee.

As well as extolling the virtues of regulated poker, Moneymaker was also on hand to dispense some poker strategy advice; urging those interested in the game to treat it as a hobby and always "have a backup plan."

As well as welcoming some of poker's finest, the event also brought out a number of local celebrities, most notably UFC champion, TJ Dillashaw. Fresh of his latest win over Renan Barao, Dillashaw posed for pictures and showed his support for poker as a game before sitting down for a few hands of cards.

Overall the PR event looks to have been a positive one from PokerStars' point of view. By positioning itself as the leading advocates of fair, regulated online poker, PokerStars should quickly become the dominant player in the market when iGaming laws are finally passed.



Tags: California, USA, regulation, Chris Moneymaker, Liv Boeree, Jason Somerville