There are only a handful of states in the U.S. that have legalized online casino gaming, and even fewer allow for internet poker to be played. Pennsylvania is one of the states that has both, and they are also a massive market in both industries.
All of the online poker tournaments in Pennsylvania are only open to residents or visitors that are within the state lines. That could soon be changing as lawmakers are asking to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA).
A bill has been proposed for the state to let the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to begin negotiations to join that agreement. Other states have already signed up to share liquidity in online poker, but not much has been done with it yet.
There is still some work to be done, but it appears that this bill has some significant support to move forward. Even though Pennsylvania might be joining this agreement late, it could cause things to heat up with other states.
Interstate Poker Coming Soon
There are a number of reasons that interstate poker has not really taken off, but operators are expected to launch these tournaments soon. BetMGM is one of the operators that have a license in several states, and they have hinted at making this a possibility in the future.
There are only a handful of online gaming licenses available in each state, and only a handful of operators would even have this opportunity. Online poker players have been waiting for this opportunity because it would unlock some great new gaming options.
PokerStars and WSOP have given interstate poker a shot, but there hasn’t been a ton of success up to this point. Michigan and New Jersey players can compete together on PokerStars, and Nevada and New Jersey players are pooled on WSOP.
When these tournaments are finally rolled out on a larger scale, players will be able to compete against those from other states in the agreement. That would create bigger prize pools,and those operators would be rolling out some massive events.
Tom Wolf is the former governor of Pennsylvania and he was not interested in pursuing an interstate poker agreement. Now that there is a new governor in charge, lawmakers believe that they have enough support to get something done.
A Massive Population
Pennsylvania has a population of nearly 14 million people, and it would easily be the most populous state in this agreement. That title currently belongs to Michigan, but there are less than 10.1 million people in that state.
Delaware and West Virginia have also signed up to join the MSIGA, but operators have not yet included them in any tournaments. If more states get involved with this agreement, operators would be looking to launch quickly.
Other states are exploring online poker as well, and that includes the massive state of New York. If Pennsylvania were to move forward with this agreement then it could convince lawmakers in New York to move quickly to take advantage of more revenue.
