Efforts to legalize real-money online poker in California this year are likely dead, but that doesn’t mean stakeholders in a future industry there aren’t already gearing up for the long road ahead next year and possibly beyond.

The most recent firm to form a partnership for online poker in the Golden State was Louisville-based Churchill Downs, according to a Thursday report from The Courier-Journal. The deal is with Crystal Casino & Hotel in Los Angeles and Ocean’s 11 in Oceanside, which are under the same ownership. The partnership means the groups would work together to bring a poker site to the market and share in the profits. California is the largest potential I-poker market in the country.

“It is a huge market, a high population, a rich population, a gambling population,” as one high-stakes poker pro recently put it. It has been estimated that it could be worth more than $380 million a year.

Amaya Gaming Group, which owns PokerStars, has relationships with the likes of Commerce, The Bike and Hawaiian Gardens should California ever regulate the games.

More at Card Player

Similar Stories from This Week in Gambling:

Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @

Read More... [Source: This Week in Gambling » Poker News and Features]