Washington passes intrastate poker proposals

The window for US Congress - which has final approval over the District’s laws - to raise objections expired last Thursday, moving the federal enclave ahead of New Jersey, Iowa, California and Nevada in the race to license and regulate online poker within its borders.

Nevada passed a law authorising egaming in 2002, but did not adopt regulations after the US Department of Justice advised at the time that federal law prohibited the activity.

The Washington DC budget provision would allow the nation’s capital to bring in US$ 13 million over three years, or US$ 4.3 million annually, according to councilman Michael A Brown. The provisions would also allow DC to operate a fantasy sports site.

Greek lottery systems supplier Intralot acquired a stake in California-based Cyberarts in late 2009 to better position itself to supply US state lotteries with egaming offerings. Earlier this year SciPlay, Playtech’s JV with lottery provider Scientific Games, admitted to eGaming Review it is involved in proposals in Iowa to launch intrastate poker, where Sci Games is the primary vendor.

Legislation in the Hawkeye state however now looks unlikely to pass in 2011 after Senate Bill 458 failed to make it through the state’s “funnel stage,” designed to dismiss certain legislature and lessen the workload on lawmakers.