North Dakota Poker Could Still Be On

Published: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

NORTH DAKOTA POKER COULD STILL BE ON

Internet poker companies asked to stump up for new campaign

Many industry people have been under the impression that the attempt to legalise and regulate Internet poker in the state of North Dakota was a dead duck, but this week moves were afoot to revitalise the campaign, according to a report from Associated Press.

Chief political proponent Jim Kasper is asking gambling companies to help finance a ballot measure that would make North Dakota the first state to license and regulate Internet poker businesses.

The proposal failed by 44 votes to 3 early this year when it was defeated in the North Dakota Senate, but Kasper continues to believe that the benefits to Dakotans in terms of reduced property taxes financed by gambling taxation make his ideas appealing to the majority of citizens.

Kasper has asked companies for financial support for an Internet poker initiative, but has not received any contributions thus far. He has not registered a fund-raising committee with the North Dakota secretary of state's office.

"The key is convincing the key people in the industry that it's worthwhile," said Keith Furlong, deputy director of the Interactive Gaming Council, a trade group based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Nigel Payne, group chief executive for Sportingbet PLC, a London company that offers Internet poker and sports wagering, said he would be interested in reviewing any Kasper proposal.

"When the initiative is fully developed, we, as I am sure like others in the industry, will assess it on its merits and make a considered decision at that time," Payne said in an e-mail response to an Associated Press reporter's questions about the idea.

In e-mails to industry officials, Kasper has been more definite. "I am continuing to move forward here in (North Dakota) to put an initiated measure on the North Dakota ballot next November," he said in one message, sent last week.

The state constitution gives North Dakotans the right to circulate petitions to put proposed laws and constitutional amendments directly on the ballot. An amendment petition would need signatures from at least 25,688 eligible North Dakota voters, while a proposed law would require 12,844 names.

Kasper could circulate petitions for both a state constitutional amendment and an Internet poker licensing law if he chose. An amendment is needed in any case, to ensure North Dakota's licensing of Internet poker sites would not violate the constitution's anti-gambling provisions.