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California Set to Approve Exchange Wagering For 2012
September 1, 2010 / Gambling Compliance Ltd / Tony Batt
California is poised to become the first state to legalize exchange betting on horse races but gamblers would have to wait until at least May 2012 before making exchange wagers, according to revised legislation.
The California Senate was expected to vote late Tuesday on a bill that would allow gamblers to use the Internet to set their own odds on horse races, bet against each other and place wagers while a race is in progress. Momentum for the legislation surged Monday when the California Assembly approved it by a 56-10 vote after it cleared the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization by a unanimous vote of 18-0. The 20-month delay until the beginning of May 2012 would enable the California Horse Racing Board to prepare rules and regulations for exchange betting.
"The board shall consider studies or comments submitted by interested parties on the impact of exchange wagering on pari-mutuel betting and the economics of the California horse racing industry," the bill said. Sources also said there was discussion of adding a sunset provision that would allow the legislature to reject or extend exchange betting within three or five years. But it was not clear Tuesday if the final version of the bill would include a sunset clause. Originally proposed by Assembly Speaker John Perez, a Los Angeles Democrat, the exchange betting bill ran into stiff opposition last week from a coalition of pari-mutuel operators including Churchill Downs Inc. The delay until May 2012 and other changes were included in a new version of the bill sponsored by State Sen. Ron Calderon, a Democrat who is also from the Los Angeles area.
Calderon's changes helped peel off opposition from Magna Entertainment Corp., a Canadian company which declared this week it was neutral on the new version of the legislation.
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Member Profile
Santiago Asensi
Partner
Asensi Abogados
Mallorca, Spain
Santiago Asensi is partner of Asensi Abogados, a law firm with specialty in the Gaming, Audiovisual and Entertainment sector with offices in Spain. Asensi’s firm provides legal advice to a large number of slot suppliers, software providers, sports betting, casino, bingo and skill games operators and gaming jurisdictions with interests located throughout Europe. He is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and his firm is one of the five European co-partners law firms of the portal Gaminglaw.eu Asensi co-authored the Spanish Gambling Market Report for Media Entertainment Consulting Network.
