The likelihood of a bill to legalise online poker in California by the end of the year looks remote after a coalition led by PokerStars, the Poker Players Alliance, and two influential tribes oppose AB.2863 after Adam Gray included a last minute amendment to ban PokerStars for five years.

Once upon a time (before 2006), there was a thriving online poker business in the United States of America. At that point, partypoker was the largest online poker room in the world. Parent company PartyGaming had a market value of over $8 billion.

Then came the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Attached to the SAFE Port Act, this document prohibited gambling enterprises from accepting wagers that involved the Internet. Partypoker took the hint, packed up their suitcase and left the States. PokerStars did not.

More knowledgeable people than me are currently arguing that PokerStars’ decision to offer US citizens an online poker room, when the rest of the online poker rooms had buggered off because of the UIGEA, is the primary reason they now dominate 70% of the global online poker market.