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The California State Governmental Organization Committee is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow where the dream of having online gambling legal in the state is alive and well for thousands of online gamblers. State residents may soon be able to go online to legally wager on intrastate poker. This informational hearing has brought in players from many various gambling activities not just the poker playing community. Swedish and Australian gaming operators were called in for their opinions each with their own agendas that speak to the rich and lucrative potential market presented in the USA. P President of BetFair USA, Gerard Cunnigham, which owns and operates the TVG horse racing network, has suggested that online poker in California could generate an approximate $900 million in revenue annually to the state. Fully represented by all the factions looking to gain something at the hearings were California card rooms, racetracks, tribal gaming, legal experts, gaming experts, international gaming companies, problem gamblers groups and the political right. The Native tribes that currently pay big dollars in taxes to the government for the exclusive right to offer slots to the gambling public, are divided on the issue of legalizing poker in California. The executive director of the California Tribal Business Alliance, Alison Harvey has stated a number of times, that the introduction of Internet Poker would violate the current agreements and thus, the state would not be able to collect the $365 million that the tribes currently pay annually. The hearing heard from off shore gaming companies that were referred to as ‘illegals’ during the proceedings. International gaming interests such as Ladbrokes Betfair and Ireland’s Paddy Power all announced that they were ‘legal companies’, reminding the officials that they had never taken bets from U.S. citizens.

John Pappas from the Poker Players Alliance defended companies that currently offer poker to US citizens stating and restated that these are companies that are legal and licensed in their jurisdiction and they are not operating illegally. It was understood by the committee that Californians are playing poker on the internet and the government is not profiting from the activity, reason enough to create regulations and tax it.