California’s first online poker site launched by local tribe

Santa Ysabel Interactive said the new website will serve as a legal alternative to unregulated illegal gambling websites that are operated from offshore locations.

As part of the launch, Santa Ysabel Interactive has teamed up with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission to establish an inter-jurisdictional agreement in order to host a portion of Santa Ysabel’s interactive gaming structure in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.

Dave Vialpando, spokesperson for Santa Ysabel Interactive, said: “We’re looking forward to the opportunity to expanding upon the lipay Nation of Santa Ysabel’s successful track record in the regulated gaming industry. “The Gaming Commission has applied its years of experience to ensure the integrity of the games when designing the framework for Santa Ysabel Interactive’s ipoker website.”

Tribes in California have been involved with gaming in the state since Proposition 1A was passed in 1999. In 2003, the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel negotiated a Tribal-State gaming compact with California and operated the Santa Ysabel Casino from the Tribe’s reservation. 

The Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission regulatory structure is more stringent than the regulatory requirements in both of the proposed California igaming legislative proposals currently under consideration. 

“The Tribe supports the effort by the Legislature to enact interactive gambling legislation in the State, but has decided to rely on the tribal sovereignty and the provisions of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) offer ipoker from the Tribe’s reservation,” Vialpando said. “Santa Ysabel Interactive currently has no plans to offer Internet-based slot machines or banked-games through its website, PrivateTable.com, but will consider offering other gaming consistent with IGRA.”