Although California has not yet legalized online gaming, one tribe in the Golden State claims that it has the right to operate them as a Class II game, without permission from the state.
Tribal Gaming Commission Chairman Dave Vialpando told a reporter for Card Player this week that the 1,000-member Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, in San Diego County, will unveil its new “real money poker site,” between August 26-28.
Only California residents who are actually within the state’s borders and aged 18 or older can play.
Although the California legislature continues to discuss an online poker bill, Vialpando said that would have no bearing on the tribe’s actions.
“Our authority to offer class II gaming from our reservation is not prohibited by any statute,” he said. “In fact, we believe it is covered by IGRA (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act). We have been fully cooperative with all the government agencies that have asked us questions, in fact with anyone who has asked us questions.
Asked to explain why his tribe was the first to step forward with online gaming, Vialpando speculated that it might be because existing gaming tribes worry that online gaming will hurt their existing brick and mortar casinos.
Santa Ysabel shut down its physical casino more than a year ago after it unsuccessfully tried to declare bankruptcy to get out from under debts to the County of San Diego that it had incurred. The tribe is located in a rather remote part of San Diego’s Backcountry.
Vialpando emphasized that his tribe is doing everything to work within the law. “As the Chairman of the Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission my concern is to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s on the regulatory side. It has been very labor intensive. Some tribes will want the state to create that framework and then they will fill in the blanks for their particular property. There are several reasons tribes have decided not to enter online gaming at this time.”
The tribe plans a gradual rollout of the games, starting with a limited number and adding new features over time, including such things as tournaments and promotions. The online casino will not offer Class III, or any house-banked games, he said. FinPlay will provide banking.
Players who want to experience the game before the rollout can go to the tribe’s website (PrivateTable.com) and see and practice on the non-money versions. “What you see now in the free-play version is what you will see when we flip the switch on for real-money,” said the chairman. Currently the web site offers No Limit Hold ‘em and Pot Limit Omaha poker.
The tribe also feels that the current legislation under consideration favors large tribes over small ones. “Smaller or remotely located tribes, like Santa Ysabel, would not be able to meet the financial prerequisites for participation in online gaming as currently proposed, in spite of their years of experience conducting and regulating brick-and-mortar Class II and Class III gaming,” said the tribe in a statement recently.
Vialpando added that the tribe hopes other tribes in the state will follow its lead and that it is willing to assist them in doing so.
“We are encouraging other tribes to follow us because we feel our product is solid and economically viable,” he said. “After two years of developing our enterprise, we have some knowledge to share with the state. It could be a model adopted by others.”
