Go-Alone Tribe Launches Californian Online Poker Site

The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel has launched “PrivateTable.com”, claiming the site will soon be operational to provide real money online poker in California.

The news broke yesterday on Marco Valerio´s @Agent Marco blog that the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel has launched an online poker site – “PrivateTable.com” – that is ready for Californian residents to play online poker for real money.

According to Valerio – via a press release given to him by Sacramento-based lawyer Martin Owens – the Santa Ysabel tribe is relying on its own sovereignty and regulatory commission to provide online poker in California, rather than waiting for State legislation to be passed.

The press release claims that the tribe´s own Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission has a more stringent regulatory structure than those contained in either of the proposed Californian online poker bills, and that PrivateTable.com is a legal alternative to the unregulated offshore sites for online poker players in California.

No Facility to Accept Deposits Online at Present

Although the source of Valerio´s information says that the site could be ready to provide real money online poker in California from today (Monday 14th July), there is currently no facility to accept deposits online – although players can register an account and engage in play money games.

According to the PrivateTable.com website, deposits and withdrawals can be transacted at the Smoke Shop located on Santa Ysabel´s tribal lands, and ultimately online banking transactions will be supported by Finpay – an eWallet which can be funded by multiple sources including BitCoin.

At the time of writing, no real money poker games have taken place on PrivateTable.com; although the site is hosting freeroll tournaments which distributes $10.00 vouchers for Google Play and the iPhone Shop to the winners.

PrivateTable.com Looking to be a Winner

PrivateTable.com is aiming to provide real money games of Texas Hold´em, Omaha and Stud Poker to residents of California over the age of eighteen who are physically located in the State. Similar to the regulated states of New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware, proof of physical location will be conducted by mobile phone tri-angulation.

Players who have already downloaded the poker software and registered an account with PrivateTable.com report that the software is the same as is used by skins on the Winning Poker Network – Americas Cardroom, Black Chip Poker and True Poker – which is proven to be reliable and fair.

If PrivateTable.com goes ahead with offering online poker for real money, there is likely to be a great deal of interest in the site from financial backers aiming to get involved with online poker in California at the start of what is hoped to be a new boom for the industry. Certainly this is what the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel will be hoping for, having closed their only brick and mortar casino earlier this year.

Legality of PrivateTable.com Likely to be Challenged

If PrivateTable.com does eventually provide games of online poker for real money, the legality of the site is likely to be challenged – not only by regulators, but also by the tribes responsible for preparing the legislation to provide “legal” online poker in California.

However, there is a huge benefit of being the “first to launch” when it comes to online poker sites, and Santa Ysabel Interactive is offering other tribes the opportunity to join with them to create a network of online tribal poker sites.

Time will tell whether the “go-alone” launch of PrivateTable.com starts a stream of tribal poker sites, or whether the other Californian tribes will band together to fight the launch of PrivateTable.com and protect their own interests.