Iowa Next US State to Jump on Poker Wagon
Written by Roger S | Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Iowa is the latest state in the US to seek out ways to expand its poker action, with the plans outlined by House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) on Friday. McCarthy himself was the one to propose the bill that will allow Iowa casinos to expand the game of poker for special event tournaments.
At present, poker events are allowed to be hosted at Iowa casinos, but they remain on a very small scale (in comparison to events such as WSOP in Vegas).
Poker players in the state are keen to see the game “go off the gaming floor”, as described by the President of Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino.
Jim Hudson, who serves as Iowa’s state director for the one million strong Poker Players Alliance said: “In the poker world, to have it be a big event, you have to have a big turnout.”
“We have the people already playing poker in Iowa. We have a zillion poker players. Apparently, they’re just going someplace else to do it.”
John Pappas, executive director of the PPA, took an objective view of the situation in Iowa and said that the state would be an excellent location to run lower buy in tournaments for more players.
“People who come to casinos to play poker are likely to spend money elsewhere,” he said. “That’s something the Vegas casinos caught on to a while ago. Fifteen years ago you were hard-pressed to find a poker room in Vegas. Then this poker boom took off, fueled by the popularity of Internet poker and TV poker. People started coming to casinos to play poker.”
Poker is currently limited to gambling floors in Iowa casinos, and McCarthy’s law would relax these laws slightly. It is hoped that the bill, if passed, would provide much needed revenue for the state.
“We are bonding for flood recovery and infrastructure right now, tie the gaming dollars into the state. So, trying to find ways, no new competition for the existing facilities, limited expansion of what they’re already allowed to do in existing facilities, but ways to generate some more revenue for the state,” said McCarthy.
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
