Gaming Law, Gambling Legislation Mid Year Update
This not only offers peace of mind regarding fair play but also ensures that your financial transactions are secure under state supervision. The introduction of iGaming legislation in more states may also open doors to increased consumer protections and enhanced regulatory frameworks. As the U.S. continues to navigate its complex web of gambling regulations, such legislative efforts highlight a progressive trend of embracing digital platforms. Across various states in the U.S, there is a notable trend of considering and implementing iGaming legislation.
- Let us know in the comments or contact our legal team for a free case review.
- I can promise you, more often than not, the voice in the meetings speaking up for the players was Seth’s.
- Idaho does not allow online poker or any form of internet-based casino gambling.
- In the other forty-seven states, a selection of poker deposit methods exists to enable players to fund their accounts (and withdraw their winnings), so effectively UIGEA was just an annoying distraction.
Appellate Court Rules Rules Against DOJ, Clears Way for Online Poker
Poker is likely, although not definitively, included in the statutory definition of gambling. Like www.pokernewsdaily.com its twin to the south, North Carolina takes a dim view of nearly all forms of gambling. It has become a model for other states and guided some of them through the legalization and regulation process.
However, due to Covid regulations, poker is limited to a single table with plexiglass dividers. Of those, only Wind River offers poker, which used to include the annual Wyoming State Poker Championship tournament. The least populous state in the country, Wyoming doesn’t tend to be a pioneer when it comes to gaming. Unfortunately for fans of the game of poker, there has been zero movement since with tribes seemingly more focused on in-state brick-and-mortar expansion than anything else. Sports betting was legalized in Virginia in April 2020 and launched in January 2021.
Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA)
Residents can only legally play poker in person at licensed casinos, which typically offer poker as a table game, rather than cash games or tournaments. The Arkansas Racing Commission is in charge of land-based casinos and sportsbooks, but all forms of online gambling are explicitly banned. Over the years, Alaska legislators have occasionally discussed gaming revenue opportunities, but bills to legalize poker or online casinos have consistently died in committee.
Still, it could be a significant market if it’s allowed to share player pools with other states. It wasn’t until 2021 that WSOP/888poker and BetMGM/partypoker launched poker sites in Pennsylvania. Ultimate Gaming and Betfair were two of the original sites that failed to prosper enough to continue doing business, but 888poker and WSOP merged their sites to compete with Borgata/PartyPoker. Rush Street’s acquisition of Run It Once Poker provides the poker base for Delaware’s new poker product, but there was no indication as to a launch date. The end of the year saw a deal with Rush Street Interactive, which relaunched casino games in early 2024.
The most remarkable poker platforms include WSOP/888 Poker Network, Borgata Poker Network, and PokerStars NJ. Launched in 2013, WSOP Nevada shares liquidity with the 888 Poker network in New Jersey & 888 Delaware. Whether these bills gain traction remains to be seen, but having legislation on the table is at least a step in the right direction. But given the state’s recent history, lawmakers may still be hesitant. With fewer than 600,000 residents, Wyoming would struggle to sustain a poker market on its own, so linking up with other states is essential. After all, if passed, this bill would mark the first real attempt to bring sweepstakes gaming under state regulation — a move that could set a precedent for other states.
The abbreviation comes from The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. DOJ’s opinion dated November 2, 2018, declared that the Wire Act prohibitions are not uniformly limited to gambling or sporting events or contests. The Federal Wire Act of 1961 is a United States federal law that prohibits the operations of certain types of betting businesses. For many US poker professionals, moving to Canada was the only viable option after the events of Black Friday. Your only viable option is to relocate to a jurisdiction where PokerStars is legally licensed.
Sports Betting Alliance Sues Chicago Over Licensing, Taxation
The Delaware Lottery allowed its contract with 888 to expire and opened bidding for a new platform provider for poker and casino games online. WSOP launched its online poker site in September 2013 with Caesar’s casinos. As the first state to legalize online poker, Nevada continued its tradition as a trailblazer in gambling. Poker players can legally play real-money poker in various ways. Now, the state is one of the biggest poker markets – both live and online – but has yet to sign the interstate agreement to share online poker sites.
The bill would allow the state’s five casinos to offer online gaming. Lawmakers noted the state’s lost revenue to online gaming at unregulated sites and the state senate passed a bill in 2024 to study the issue. The state already allows for online sports betting, which was legalized in 2020. In some states, that could possibly include online casino gaming and poker. Several other states are considering online poker legislation this year, including Massachusetts, Indiana, Maryland and New York. Connecticut lawmakers held a public hearing on Wednesday to consider a bill that would give the governor the authority to join other states in an online poker compact.
Truly sustainable poker needs both robust compliance frameworks and cutting-edge tech. EvenBet Gaming platforms have 99.9% uptime, real-time fraud detection, and modular integration options, ensuring operators can scale without sacrificing stability. With U.S. states enforcing strict KYC rules, platforms rely on advanced verification providers to prevent underage play and comply with AML directives. A 2025 report from SiGMA highlights that operators face constant pressure from account hacks, bonus abuse, and data theft. Without shared liquidity, even well-regulated states risk stagnation.
I like playing stuff I haven’t played before, and where no one is really too experienced. So, when I wake up in the morning, I just ask myself what I’m in the mood to play. Engel played the $2,130 PLO High Roller to begin his series on Sunday, and finished third for just under $8,400 (Japan’s Hattori Masato went on to win the trophy). The only hitch in that plan, of course, is if you go so deep in an event that you can’t play anything else that day. It features everything from sub-$300 carnival games to a near-$24K High Roller, with an average of more than 10 events each day. You’ve got the budget to play anything you want, from the most affordable buy-ins to the most exclusive high rollers.
This opinion was met with much suspicion by the industry and widely seen as being influenced by lobbyists for the brick and mortar casino industry. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled on a case where Lawrence DiCristina had been offering Texas Hold’em games in a warehouse, and Judge Jack Weinstein declared that Texas Hold’em is a game of skill, which was a major ruling for the game of poker. Brands such as Party Poker, Paradise Poker, and 888 all exited and saw their player liquidities plummet. UIEGA whipped the industry into a frenzy, forcing most operators (in particular the publicly traded ones) to exit the U.S. before the October 13, 2006 deadline. Calling poker a sport seemed like a stretch and at the time there was also the strong belief that poker being a skill game should not be lumped in with betting games.
Will they back iGaming legislation or fight it, as Encore has done in neighboring Massachusetts? More gambling is a difficult sell right now, and most pundits expect little movement on iGaming from U.S. states in 2026. The current political climate, however, doesn’t seem favorable to near-term gambling expansion.
However the state is still serviced by many offshore poker sites. Utah legislators have gone to great lengths to make it absolutely clear that they do not want anyone gambling online or offline. The relevant South-Carolina gambling laws can be found in the South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 16 – Crimes and Offenses, Chapter 19 – Gambling and Lotteries. Although they don’t mention poker specifically, we can be quite certain that poker is included as a form of gambling.
There is also a Bill, S242, for legalizing Poker in land-based casinos on the agenda In fact, the current laws don’t even mention real-money online gaming at all. The New Hampshire Revised Statutes are anything but clear when it comes to the topic of online gambling. Bill SB322 on agenda that could introduce online gambling – but only by way of a voter referendum. With Pence gone, IN becomes a likelier candidate for allowing the existing casino industry to innovate and move business online to prop up flagging revenues. Although Iowa does have a pretty good bricks and mortar betting industry, there are laws in place concerning gambling, and some quite strict punishments for unlawful gambling.
✅ New federal discussions – Lawmakers are considering a nationwide standard for online gambling protections. ✅ Stricter state regulations – Some states are limiting online casino licenses and enforcing stricter age verification laws. After extensive debate, Germany is looking to increase the taxes on internet gaming, in particular slots and poker. For several months in 2020 and 2021, casinos were shuttered around the world and poker rooms have been the ones that have suffered the most.
Online poker and casinos could enhance the state’s gaming landscape; it’s been six years since the state legalized casinos and sports betting. Professional poker players, sports bettors, and other gamblers who rely on casinos for their income are becoming increasingly worried that a fix to a tax change in the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t coming. This has made it increasingly difficult for online poker players to deposit funds into their accounts, but it definitely has not made playing Internet poker for real money in the US illegal. Originally designed to outlaw the taking of bets across state lines by bookmakers by wire (think of it as the precursor to online gambling), the Wire Act is key to understanding how the US has changed its stance on the legality of playing poker online. It must be noted that while Washington has made it a felony to play online poker within its state borders, the authorities have never actually arrested any online poker players, and players in the state continue to play on offshore poker sites which service Americans. The language and the laws are archaic and confusing and we struggle to see how any of them could be used to target online poker players.
Considering this was a nascent industry it is not surprising the legal landscape was not developed and very unclear. That’s a point that I’ve made in the past, and that was borne out when Rhode Island became the only state since 2021 to pass an online casino bill. This year saw the formation of the National Association Against iGaming, aligning the retail industry holdouts with casino workers’ unions and a variety of advocacy groups. While conventional operators like MGM have unequivocally opposed prediction contracts on sports, DraftKings and FanDuel have begun dabbling in predictions as a way of keeping up. DraftKings and FanDuel, which were themselves the disruptors not long ago, had only just begun to make peace with the U.S. brick-and-mortar casino industry. The prediction markets have had a profound effect on the gambling industry, too.
As of January 2026, there are no active bills that propose a method for licensing poker sites. In these jurisdictions, it’s often possible to access offshore poker sites, although it’s up to you to do the necessary research and due diligence before taking to the tables. Six of these states operate under the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), allowing for shared liquidity and larger player pools. Players must be physically located within one of these states to play on licensed sites. Since there is no unified federal law authorizing or prohibiting poker platforms, every state determines for itself whether real-money poker may be offered within its borders.
For a few, that has meant the filing of gambling-related bills. “We thank the committee on moving on this provision, with one ask that language be put into place to include territories outside the United States, like Canada, which is seeking to join the gaming compact.” “It is our hope that Connecticut will join the other members of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement to provide better gaming options for Connecticut residents and increase gaming revenue for the state.”
For those out of the loop, these platforms use a dual-currency system to operate in a legal gray area and have become more and more popular across the US. That’s a big miss, considering how much it would boost the state’s poker scene. Now, it’s up to operators like WSOP.com, PokerStars, and BetMGM Poker to complete technical testing and regulatory requirements to make it happen. From Pennsylvania finally joining the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) to New York and Massachusetts making fresh moves toward legalization, there’s a lot to unpack.
In 2022, sports betting was legalized, paving the way for other online gambling industries. Although it oversees casino operations for live gaming, the Kansas Lottery lacks the power to grant licenses for online gambling. However, sports betting and daily fantasy sports are allowed, while live poker is available at state-licensed casinos. Illinois does not currently regulate online poker, although the Illinois Gaming Board does have licenses for in-person casinos and poker rooms, which are legal. Idaho does not allow online poker or any form of internet-based casino gambling. Although live poker is widely available at licensed pari-mutuel establishments and tribal casinos in Florida, the state does not regulate any online poker.
Three of those were important figures in the NBA, creating a national scandal that has sports leagues and their players’ associations on the hotseat. The New Year will no doubt see multiple states attempting to legalize online poker, but the odds of success seem longer than ever in the current political context. Other Pennsylvania online poker operators like WSOP PA and PokerStars PA have yet to say whether they plan on joining MSIGA. Is the US getting closer to legalizing online poker nationwide or in a majority of states?
As a result, DraftKings Casino and FanDuel Casino are the only two sports betting and online casino options in the state. Entering into agreements with foreign jurisdictions would be barred under the bill and only allow one account per player on a platform – putting the industry standard of banning multi-accounting into law in the state. The bill allows for tribal and commercial operators to run online poker in the state and sets a date of July 1 to go into effect.