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Deep differences among members of the state’s politically powerful gaming industry, particularly tribes with casinos, have once again stalled legislation to legalize online gambling in California.

The chairman of the state Senate panel that oversees the gambling industry — and who has spent more than two years trying to craft a bill to regulate online games — suddenly pulled his measure to license online poker. Tuesday’s move surprised dozens of representatives of horse tracks, tribes and others, some of whom had traveled long distances to testify at what was to be the first hearing on the measure.

All indications were that state Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, lacked sufficient support for his bill. Its future is uncertain, as well as the potential $200 million in annual state revenue it would have raised beginning in 2014.

Read More: ONLINE POKER: Author pulls bill at first hearing | Breaking News | PE-com - Press-Enterprise

The CEO of Caesars Entertainment has been crusading to legalize online gambling, and he makes some good points.

Online poker will become legal, Gary Loveman said in an interview with CNN. Already, several states are inching toward making it legal.

"I can say with tremendous confidence that people will be able to play play online legally in the United States in many places very soon," he said in the interview.

Read More: Will online poker become legal?- MSN Money

There is no denying that Mike “The Mouth” Matusow is a unique talent in the live tournament poker arena with 3 WSOP bracelets and $7,907,302 in cashes to his name.

Playing online and especially cash games, however, is a different matter entirely and the outspoken 44 year old doesn’t mince his words when describing his lack of love for the format. As Matusow explained recently to pokerlistings-com:

“To me, I think they’re a bunch of criminals [online poker sites]. I just keep myself low. I don’t want to be around it. I’ve seen the downside of it. I’ve had millions stolen from me from Ultimate Bet. I’ve had my name smashed through the mud. God knows how much I had stolen from me by Full Tilt. I don’t need it. It’s disappointing to me.”

Read More: Mike Matusow Attacks Online Poker

Legislation in New Jersey that would authorize online casino games, including poker, has survived committee and now goes to a full Assembly vote, The Star-Ledger reported.

Gov. Chris Christie reportedly is on the fence about the current proposals (a companion Internet gaming bill sits in the Senate). According to a blog from John Brennan, the governor has “sidestepped” the issue in recent weeks. He also shot down an attempt at legalization last year, citing concerns with Atlantic City’s tourism.

Read More: New Jersey Online Poker Goes to Assembly Vote

Despite federal and state bans on online poker, as many as 1 million Californians spend a total of about $300 million annually playing the game — typically on websites based outside the country. Lawmakers have been debating for more than four years whether to create a legal outlet for these players but have been stymied by opposition from powerful Indian gambling interests. Those forces appear to have scuttled a new proposal by state Sens. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) and Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) that was sidelined by a Senate committee last week just before a scheduled vote. There's a good argument to be made for legalizing and regulating online poker or, conversely, working more aggressively to ban it. With the tribes pulling the strings in Sacramento, however, California isn't doing either.

Read More: California's online poker problem - latimes-com

Despite federal and state bans on online poker, as many as 1 million Californians spend a total of about $300 million annually playing the game — typically on websites based outside the country. Lawmakers have been debating for more than four years whether to create a legal outlet for these players but have been stymied by opposition from powerful Indian gambling interests. Those forces appear to have scuttled a new proposal by state Sens. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) and Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) that was sidelined by a Senate committee last week just before a scheduled vote. There's a good argument to be made for legalizing and regulating online poker or, conversely, working more aggressively to ban it. With the tribes pulling the strings in Sacramento, however, California isn't doing either.

Read More: California's online poker problem - latimes-com

Coming finally to a stadium near you is what is being dubbed the International Stadiums of Poker Tour. Credibility was on the line for a considerable time as announced were made and then retracted or refuted. Most claims seem a little out on limb such as the one the Groupe Bernard Tapie presented to the public saying there will be 30,000 players playing online at Wembley Stadium using their electronic devises. The rolls will be reduced to 3000, who will challenge one another in an opportunity to take home a part of the €20,000,000 in prizes. Real felt tables will be placed on the playing field at Wembley which sounds somewhat strange indeed.

Well the dates for the first of the International Stadiums of Poker Tour have been announced as May 31st to June 6th 2013 at the Wembley Stadium with 2119 players who are now officially ready to compete for the €20,000,000 prize pool.

Calvin Ayre.com took the liberty of contacting the organizers behind this unusual concept. They have stated that officials at Wembley have “confirmed” the first poker event will take place from May 31st May to June 6th 2013 and they are expecting to have at least ‘20,000 to 30,000’ in attendance.

With this project there is still a certain amount of speculation the event is going to be a massive fail but there are actual bookings being made and there is advertizing being done and as some think when you build it they will come approach can work. “Ideas are a dime a dozen” someone once said but making an idea a reality happens all the time. Poker is about skill and gambling and that’s what the organizers of this dream are doing, using their entrepreneurial skill and gambling with someone else’s money. Nothing short of brilliant if it all comes together and good luck trying.

It’s been a rough 18 months for Chinese Internet tycoon Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Early in 2011 a fraud scandal hit his business-to-business e-commerce site, Alibaba-com.

At about the same time, the U.S. government publicly shamed Alibaba-owned Taobao, a hybrid of Amazon-com (AMZN) (AMZN) and EBay, for enabling the sale of counterfeit merchandise. Last fall, thousands of small merchants protested online and outside Alibaba’s headquarters in Ma’s hometown, the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, against an increase in Taobao’s listing fees.

“I was so lonely at that time,” said Ma, who presents himself as a champion of local entrepreneurs and added the higher prices were necessary to fight piracy. “Nobody wanted to believe Jack Ma.”

Read More: China?s Loneliest Billionaire Ma Dabbles in Tai Chi, Poker - Businessweek