Frommer is the sponsor of the bill in the California Legislature that would ban Internet gambling here. Proponents of the ban argue that unlike the state s card club and casino owners, Internet betting site operators cannot guarantee the integrity of their games. They can offer games that violate the California penal code. Blonien also said that Internet gambling is already siphoning customers away from card clubs. Owners tell Blonien that customers are playing poker at home rather than fighting traffic to visit a smoky card room, he said.
Some sites are slow to pay winnings with most based outside the United States.
Site owners can cheat customers through methods like rigging the electronic decks used in video poker, Blonien said. People who say Internet gambling should be legal, regulated and taxed agree with their opponents that getting paid by an existing offshore Internet casino can be a crap shoot. There are a lot of shady characters out there. I know my players aren t going to get burned. His games, he said, are secure.