California Poker Loses its Head
Written by Renee K | Monday, August 3rd, 2009
The state of California has lost one of the most powerful figures to fight for the introduction of online poker in the area. The founder and president of the influential Poker Voters of America, Jim Tabilio, announced his sudden departure from the group in order to pursue other interests.
Tabilio’s efforts have been most concentrated in the area of pushing California to introduce intrastate online poker, a task that the Poker Voters of America picked up once Assemblyman Lloyd Levine started the ball rolling.
Tabilio founded the Poker Voters of America (PVOA) a couple of years ago, with the intention of educating legislators about the benefits of intrastate online poker law. One of the main advantages always highlighted by the PVOA is that the state could benefit from much needed income to help ease the budget crisis that it now faces.
Industry analysts believe that introducing the kind of law suggested by the PVOA would bring in around $250 million in the first year, a sum that could triple in the next decade.
Jim Tabilio announced that while he was retiring from the Poker Voters of America, he would become a registered lobbyist for the movement and would continue to educate about online gaming regulation.
“We’ve made significant progress,” said Tabilio. “Now it’s time to build on that progress and help the industry and the states create systems that protect players, generate maximum income for the regulating jurisdiction and provide sustainable and profitable business models to benefit both operators and the states.”
Melanie Brenner, who acts as the PVOA’s executive director, said that the group would be announcing a new head within a month or two.
In the meantime, the vision to see intrastate online poker in California become a reality by 2010 remains on track.
The group has been one of the key figures in leading to a change in outlook among legislators regarding the introduction of this format of gaming in California. Intrastate online poker essentially limits the game to California residents only serviced by Californian based online poker operators.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
