Private initiative to legalize online gaming gains momentum
A movement started by well-known internet poker personality Anthony “Tuff Fish” Sandstrom to legalize online gaming in the US gained some momentum this week when Sandstrom was cleared by the California Secretary of States Office to circulate petitions aimed at getting a measure on the ballot to create an Internet Gaming Agency in the State of California.
Sandstrom would need 430,000 signatures by Christmas for the measure to appear on a ballot. “I am just a guy who wants to play poker at home when I don’t feel like making an hour drive to a card room or casino,” Sandstrom said on his Web site. “I am going to make a mighty effort to make safe, legal, and accessible online poker possible.”
Critics of the measure include anti-gaming lobbies and even some supporters of legalization who contend that Sandstrom’s ideas lack the grounding necessary for long-term, sustainable policy.
