History has shown that the increased customer base … has generally helped the online gaming industry by creating more customer interest in online poker.
Multi-state poker is getting closer to a launch in Pennsylvania!
The board of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) unanimously voted to begin the process of making online poker interstate shared liquidity a reality in Pennsylvania at their monthly meeting on Wednesday. During the meeting, executive director Kevin O’Toole urged the board to take its first step toward the state joining the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA).
MSIGA is the multi-state gaming compact that online poker players from the Keystone State have been eager to see their state join. Governor Josh Shapiro gave Pennsylvania poker players a reason to believe those wishes would soon come true earlier this month when he sent a letter to the PGCB asking the agency to begin the process of negotiating PA’s membership in the compact.
Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia are the compact’s other members. O’Toole told the PGCB board that Pennsylvania’s entry into MSIGA would support the game of poker immensely.
“History has shown that the increased customer base … has increased the number of poker games available for play at various buy-in price points, and has generally helped the online gaming industry by creating more customer interest in online poker,” O’Toole said.
He then asked the board to ratify a staff request to join MSIGA. After a motion to that effect was introduced, the board voted — and gave their unanimous approval.
MSIGA is expected to balloon in size once Pennsylvania joins. The combined population of the compact’s current five states is 25.3 million, but with the Keystone State it will be 38.3 million.
The result will be a large increase in shared liquidity, but expansion will also touch off a fresh round of multi-state network combinations — with BetMGM Poker, PokerStars, WSOP Online, and soon BetRivers Poker taking their competition for players and excitement to new levels.
Still No Timeline for MSIGA Entry
It should be noted that O’Toole didn’t offer a timeline for when Pennsylvania will ultimately become a member. He said representatives from the other five member states would all need to agree to the Keystone State’s membership. Shapiro would then need to sign the agreement in order for it to take effect.
O’Toole said a state law from 2004, the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, gives the state permission to join multi-state gaming compacts like MSIGA.
He also explained to the board that, under MSIGA, the tax revenues from online poker games involving players from multiple states would be divided based on the percentage of players from each state participating in the game.
Some additional details about MSIGA itself came out during the hearing. O’Toole said “most” of the member states only authorized operators to offer peer-to-peer poker between them. He added that after “consultation with the governor’s staff, it was agreed that Pennsylvania will initially only pursue multi-state gaming for peer-to-peer poker games.”
MSIGA does allow states to share liquidity for online casino games.
O’Toole didn’t pull the curtain back too far on how the state got to this point. Other states offered a little more of a sneak peek.
For example, an official with the West Virginia Lottery Commission (WVLC) revealed in a pokerfuse exclusive last November that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) played a role facilitating West Virginia’s entry to MSIGA. Such cooperation between regulators is not unusual.
On a side note — West Virginia currently does not have any real money online poker operators deployed in the state. More than likely that’s because of the small size of the market there (1.8 million residents). Whether Pennsylvania’s membership in MSIGA ultimately compels an operator to launch in West Virginia remains to be seen — but BetRivers Poker, which hasn’t launched anywhere yet, could be the first.
It’s not clear if WVLC and/or NJDGE advised Pennsylvania with joining MSIGA or would help the state with becoming a full member. Some cooperation is likely, considering they cover adjacent jurisdictions and no doubt are in contact on a host of other gaming matters.
Earlier this month, a PGCB representative told pokerfuse exclusively that online poker operators already doing business in the state would not be subject to additional approval from the PGCB before offering multi-state poker.
In Michigan, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) inserted that hurdle before allowing operators there to offer multi-state poker. So far, only PokerStars and WSOP have taken the MGCB up on the option — BetMGM Poker has not made such a move yet.
