War? Healthcare? Energy? Recession? Let's play poker

At a time of war and economic troubles, legislation on Internet gambling may not be high on President-elect Barack Obama’s to-do list.

But the issue is about to rear its head in Washington, in Sacramento and perhaps in other states in the coming year.

Internet gambling mogul Ruth Parasol and her husband, Russ DeLeon, retained Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations back in August and paid $30,000 to the firm to lobby on Internet gambling issues in the third quarter of 2008, Fleishman's latest filing shows.

Parasol grew up in Mill Valley in Northern California. But given her business, she is said to make her home overseas, in Gibraltar. Parasol made her millions by co-founding PartyPoker.com.

The business took a turn for the worse when Congress successfully sought to make Internet gambling illegal in 2006. That's no doubt where Fleishman would come in, although lobbyists there have not returned phone calls.

Meanwhile, back in Sacramento, lobbyists are contemplating legislation that would legalize Internet poker to be played solely within the boundaries of California.

Rodney Blonien, who represents California Commerce Club and Hollywood Park Casino, said current federal law would permit intrastate gambling over the Internet. As it is, he estimated, 2 million Californians a week gamble on Internet sites based offshore.

"There is a lot of money made and lost. It is completely unregulated," Blonien said.

The legislation could be of benefit to California, he said, noting: "It could be a significant source of revenue to the state."

The state could receive tens of millions of dollars a year, he said. Perhaps Arnold Schwarzenegger would be interested, given that California's budget deficit now is estimated to exceed $27.8 billion.

-- Dan Morain

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Photo: Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images