The initiative by California resident Anthony "Tuff Fish" Sandstrom has received the proper attention across the industry and in political debates at large, as it well deserves. (Here at Online Casino Reports too we covered the story on August 8.) The echoes are sure to continue bouncing off blogs, forums and news articles for time to come, as we already know what the potential of a YouTube video may be. One such response has already been made, and it is clearly one to pay attention to.

Perhaps the number one expert in the world when it comes to the legal developments involving the online gambling world, Professor I. Nelson Rose, who teaches in Costa Mesa, California, has commented on the initiative of his fellow state resident. This happened earlier this week, at the ninth annual Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo Entering (GIGSE) in Montreal.

The two being from the state of California, and the initiative focusing on benefiting the state's roads with income from a proposed government-run poker site, are essential, Professor Rose says. The law professor said he has long believed that progress would be made at the local level indeed, rather than on the federal level. California, both progressive and semi-independent in its political life, is a good prospect to lead such a change before other states. Perhaps following the Nevada precedent, which allows it to run casinos while they are prohibited elsewhere in the country, California can also excuse itself on legal grounds from the UIGEA.

A state-owned poker site has tremendous potential in a large state such as California. Keeping the money in-state may benefit the citizens in return, mainly road infrastructure, but also bring the online gambling world back on the table, where it can be regulated, supervised and safe.

If gambling will indeed be resolved as a states' rights issue, not a federal law case, the fruits that California may see will be tremendous. Ninety percent of revenues will be directed to local road repair, and the remaining 10 percent invested in programs that will help problem gamblers. Thus the stakes are high for both gamblers and non-gamblers alike.