The Morongo Band of Mission Indians in California is attempting to team up with card clubs in order to introduce online gaming to the states.  It sounds like a great idea and could be great for online casinos.  Once it is shown that online gaming can be regulated effectively in on state, other state will likely be more accepting of online casino.  However some strong opposition has developed against the idea and much of it comes from other tribes in California.

Allison Harvey is the executive director of the California Tribal Business Alliance and she is not so much against the idea of tribes offering online poker or online casinos as she is against tribes teaming up with non-tribal companies to do so.  According to Harvey, the way the current draft bill is worded it could lead to California tribes losing the exclusive right to provide gambling entertainment in California.

Harvey fears that once the exclusivity clause is violated a whole can of worms will open up that could be detrimental to tribal gaming.  She foresees other companies wanting a piece of the California gambling market using this alliance to challenge the right of tribes to offer poker action in California exclusively.

“How can you just say these groups and nobody else can get into this business?” asked Harvey.

“You could end up with a situation where people sue and in the end, everybody except tribes can offer this activity.”

“We are particularly concerned with the concept of moving tribal government gaming off tribal reservations and outside the framework of federal law and tribal-state gaming compacts,” stated a letter from the California Tribal Business Alliance.