US Insight
Key Takeaways
  • Delaware online poker numbers jumped 25% in February thanks in large part to the performance of Delaware Park whose revenues from online poker increased over 44% from its January figures.
  • The World Poker Tour will once again be “hosting the WPT 500 in Nevada.
  • The recent Easter holiday is being cited as the reason for a large number of overlays in New Jersey where three of the five Sunday major tournaments failed to meet their guarantees.
  • Pennsylvania State Representative Tina Davis has once again introduced legislation that would legalize and regulate online gaming—including online poker—in the state.

RAWA

The notion that federal legislation could be passed that would outlaw most online gaming in the US is still cause for concern for states that are currently offering igaming. Vernon Kirk, the Director of the Delaware State Lottery, said in reaction to the proposed legislation, “There are a lot of nervous lottery people.”

This comes in spite of Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-South Carolina) remarks calling for a carveout in RAWA for online lotteries. Markup on the bill is anticipated as the next step by online gaming opponents.

As a countermeasure, Vice President of Player Relations for the Poker Players Alliance, Rich Muny, introduced a petition to oppose the efforts to make RAWA law. The online petition needs 100,000 signatures within 30 days to elicit a response from the White House. After nearly a week, the petition seems to be falling far short of that threshold with only 3,374 signatures currently.