Online Gaming Bill Could Be Revived In New York Poker News
The Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation would be in charge of regulating riverboat and land-based casinos as well as fantasy sports. State Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary (D) has already filed a bill to legalize online gaming. The Old Line State has flirted with online gaming legalization in the past.
Online poker players will find no specific mention of their game on the books, but other rules may still apply regardless. State does allow some regulated forms of real-money poker, but all unregulated forms are potentially subject to New Mexico’s anti-gambling laws. A pioneer of regulated online gaming in the US, New Jersey long ago eclipsed $1B in igaming revenue. Online poker seems unlikely in coming years, but Nebraska lawmaker proposed legal live poker in 2021 as a skill game. The Show Me State has been willing to examine sports betting bills in the last few years and is likely to join the ranks of legal online betting for sports soon.
Live poker has been available to people in Connecticut since the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe opened Foxwoods Resort Casino in 1992. With the lack of federal legislation around the game, the United States is anything but united on the issue. The most common poker variants are No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven-Card Stuf, Razz, Omaha Hi-Lo, 2-7 Triple Draw, and Five-Card Draw. She has spent years advocating for diversity, most notably gender equity in the traditionally male-dominated poker sphere. It’s important to note that no website – no matter how well-researched or informed – can be a substitute for advice from a licensed legal professional.
The aim of UIGEA is to make it a criminal offense for banks and financial firms in the US to process deposits or withdrawals to or from non-regulated online gambling sites. Outside of these legal sports books, it’s not legal to play real money games online. Both West Virginia and Michigan passed the gambling legislation for regulated real money internet poker in 2019. Unfortunately, these poker platforms don’t grant access to WSOP Online events for players in Delaware. From the US states with regulated online poker, Delaware is the smallest one.
Proposals to expand gaming face resistance from conservative lawmakers. Without voter approval, the legal status of poker remains unchanged. Gambling is restricted to Deadwood casinos and tribal facilities under the oversight of the South Dakota Gaming Commission. While poker platforms are still under development and no operator has yet launched, the statute provides a clear legal pathway.
If anyone’s getting online casinos next year, it would be one of those, but online poker would take many years more if it were to come at all. The trouble with these is that, even if they legalize online poker, they may not attract any operators. However, online poker got cut from that state’s sports betting bill in 2023 — a necessary sacrifice to get it across the line. Whether playing online or face-to-face, players are safer in a regulated environment. The common themes here are current stringent prohibition of any form of gaming/gambling, and/or an absence of legislative activity towards the regulation of online poker. No U.S.-based online poker player has ever been convicted for playing online poker.
Is Online Poker Legal in the US? 2026 State-by-State Tracker
There’s also a state lottery that includes Mega Millions and Powerball, and in 2016 they became the first state to legalize and regulate Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). However, the state does offer off-track betting parlors and allows for some charitable gambling. Charities are permitted to hold bingo, raffles, and casino nights. Vermont does have a state lottery and horse racing is technically legal despite there being no tracks in operation.
In an effort to create jobs, the plan also mandates that any online live dealer games derive from studios in the state. Caesars Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming, Hard Rock International, Boyd Gaming, and the Cordish Companies would also be able to offer online poker. “I think last time his biggest opposition was that he really hadn’t heard from his members, and the Senate hadn’t heard from constituents that they wanted online gambling.” Every state surrounding Minnesota has legalized sports betting, and legislators continue considering the issue.
Addabbo had hoped the original bill, which legalized online casino, poker, and lottery sales, would help offset some of that. If things stay fragmented, players will be the ones who suffer most — grey zone sites, weak oversight, and fraud. 2025 is more than just another chapter in online poker’s legal battles — it is an important turning point for the game’s sustainability. For operators, the pivot to a regulated poker environment isn’t just about meeting requirements once legislation arrives — it’s about being ready in advance. The UK keeps it tight but consistent — everyone follows the same rules, which makes players feel safe, and operators trust the system. Regulation, even the most favourable, means nothing if players don’t trust the poker platforms.
The industry trade group favored regulating the industry in the state. However, some non-gaming tribes opposed the ban, arguing that partnerships with the platforms could benefit their citizens. The California Nations Indian Gaming Association backed the legislation. Several other states have introduced bill targeting the industry as well. Another casino is expected to open in Petersburg in 2027.
More telling, the sports betting legislation mania sweeping through the nation never got to Missouri. On the second effort, they succeeded, and the state has appeared to have gone backward in terms of precedent that might favor online poker. However, online gambling has struggled to establish any kind of foothold.
In January, PokerNews spoke with New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. about his efforts to bring online poker to the state’s 20 million residents. “First, FanDuel is supportive of the provision authorizing the Governor to enter into agreements with other states for multi-jurisdictional Internet games such as poker,” Ventre told Connecticut lawmakers on Wednesday. While a firm launch date has not been set, industry experts anticipate that the first legal poker hands could be dealt later in 2026 or early 2027. In any case, players must still wait for regulation to be drafted, with the Maine Gambling Control Unit responsible for drafting the specific rules and licensing requirements. Other states with bills put forward for online gaming and poker so far this year include Massachusetts, Indiana, and Wyoming. There are 34 New York casinos overall, 21 tribal and 13 commercial, which employed nearly 70,000 as of 2023 and brought in $4.72 billion in gross gaming revenue.
The Ban Greatly Reduces The Number Of Online Poker Options In The Golden State
Pennsylvania was the latest to join the agreement in April, and online poker revenue in legalized states has grown ever since. The state’s four upstate casinos could also receive licenses along with the three planned downstate casinos, in addition to more than a dozen tribal gaming operators. Addabbo thinks lawmakers may be more open to online poker and iGaming now that sweeps are out of the way. They, and other critics, argue the platforms offer casino-style gaming with a dual-currency system meant to circumvent state gambling laws. Opponents have argued that online gaming would cannibalize the state’s three current brick-and-mortar casinos in Bristol, Danville, and Portsmouth. For poker players, the bill allows the state to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement shared liquidity compact.
Live poker rooms are limited to Indian reservations in a few areas, with Black Hawk being the most notable and top place to play in Colorado. Alaska hasn’t passed any sort of legislation that is pro-poker, and there’s no reason to expect a bill to be brought forth near to hand, although stranger things have happened. If you’re still wanting to play poker in the state, there is an alternative. Major poker sites such as PokerStars haven’t been accessible from Alabama since Black Friday on April 15, 2011, when the US Department of Justice (DOJ) forced the top sites to cease operations in the United States.
State Senator Also Seeks Sweepstakes Casino Ban
This material may not be reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed without the express prior written permission of the copyright holder. We encourage all users to check the promotion displayed matches the most current promotion available by clicking through to the operator welcome page. PokerStars is now available exclusively on FanDuel, which means you can play PokerStars for real money in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
On the other hand, there has been positive poker news regarding licensed operators. PokerStars global player pool and platform www.pokernewsdaily.com are not available in the US. New Jersey joined the MSIGA in late 2017 to become the third member of states with shared player liquidity. This agreement increases the liquidity of cash game tables and tournaments with player pooling between the states. You can compete in the online bracelet events for the World Series of Poker in Texas Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and other poker variants.
With no live poker industry to speak of, online poker seems to be the only option for residents of the Cornhusker State. Section 16 of Bill H4926 has become known as “the poison pill” due to its assumptions regarding Federal Law changes and the potential future competitive differences between the Tribes and commercial casinos, for online gaming and poker. And while the state has no licensed poker sites, players in the state do play at a number of offshore US-Facing sites.
A majority favored legalizing online gaming to other options for raising revenue. If the issue is revived, it’s also not known if a bill would be expanded once again to include online gaming beyond poker. Some reports indicate that online casino gaming might be in the plans to help alleviate those funding issues. The future of online poker in the U.S. now looks the brightest it’s been in years.
The move comes after the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency has continued to send cease-and-desist letters to operators ordering them to stop doing business in the state. “For every $20 million of annual casino revenue attributable to iGaming, the casino licensee must increase both the number of union jobs and pay by a specific percentage,” he wrote in Forbes in 2024. The state would allocate revenue from the new industry for education funding. Besides helping you to crush poker, we want to bring a bit of the flash of the golden era of poker. It does $5,218 commercial casino revenue per capita, which is over five times more than the second-ranked state Mississippi does, $920. Being the home to Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada is the top state for gambling.
California has enacted AB 831 into law, banning contest and sweepstakes gambling, including dual-currency sweepstakes poker and casino products. Fox, the tax expert, said “the math may stop working” for some players who currently make a living gambling. The provision also applies to sports betting and other gambling, although in all cases it will affect people who play at the highest stakes the most. “At first, I didn’t believe it. And then I read it,” said Russell Fox, a poker player who runs a Nevada-based tax firm that specializes in gambling. “As I walk around the poker tables, I definitely hear it from the players – they’re concerned,” said World Series of Poker CEO Ty Stewart on the penultimate day of the Las Vegas tournament last week.
- Now, it’s up to operators like WSOP.com, PokerStars, and BetMGM Poker to complete technical testing and regulatory requirements to make it happen.
- On the flip side, I think poker tours consolidating media in house or to official contractors has really killed the rest of poker content.
- Any legal analysis, legislative updates, or other content and links should not be construed as legal or professional advice or a substitute for such advice.
- Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation.
- Yes, online poker is legal in the United States, albeit only in certain states.
This appears to be positive news, and hopefully the dreaded Wire Act will no longer represent a stumbling block for interstate online poker. Congress to the World Trade Organization, a new chink of hope for online poker appeared in the form of an opinion from the US Department of Justice (DoJ). At first sight, one might assume this was the clause that would allow online poker to slip out from under the UIGEA jackboot.
Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese introduced Assembly Bill 5196 not long ago, aiming to regulate sweepstakes online casinos. New Jersey already has a well-established US online poker scene, but a new bill could shake things up this year. Meanwhile, Senator Joseph Addabbo is pushing a separate bill for broader iGaming regulation, including measures targeting unregulated sweepstakes casinos. If things go smoothly, Pennsylvania players could be competing in multi-state tournaments just in time for WSOP Online 2025. But the final hurdle’s been cleared, and Pennsylvania’s nearly 13 million residents will have access to a much larger US online poker scene.
Additionally, lawmakers have relaxed laws in recent years to permit home games. Lawmakers approved retail sports betting in 2019 but shot down a mobile sports betting proposal in 2022. Online poker was late to the game and was legalized in New Jersey in 2013 after poker’s Black Friday two years prior. The way this actually manifests is that hundreds of bars across the state serve as sort of hybrid entertainment locations, offering live poker, video poker, video lottery, keno, and off-track betting. Missouri law never truly addressed daily fantasy sports, leaving the state like others as a gray area with regard to DFS. On January 1, 2023, PokerStars became the first operator to link their Michigan player pool with another state.
One unique aspect of the bills is that operators would be allowed a second, separately branded online poker platform in addition to their main casino site. Indiana already has a strong online sports betting market, so adding online poker seems like a logical next step. The bill also includes online casino games and pari-mutuel wagering, meaning it covers a broad range of online gambling options. Unlike New York’s proposal, this bill explicitly includes a provision for player pooling with other states, making it a much more promising prospect for online poker.
“DraftKings would like to state its support for the provision authorizing the Governor to enter into multijurisdictional agreements for peer-to-peer casino gaming,” Prestwood said. Pennsylvania lawmakers are also currently looking at joining the poker compact. However, no poker operators have launched in Connecticut since then.
On Tuesday, the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), an advocacy group formed by the country’s major sportsbooks, sued the city over a new licensing and taxation structure that is supposed to take effect on Thursday,… Read more » It took off in 1984, when the General Assembly ordered the Attorney General to regulate the state’s cardrooms, and was further regulated in… Read more » Since 1854, when the California Grand Casino opened in Pacheco, poker has been established in the state. We respect our trusted industry peers and scan this site with the latest security standards. It looks like the shared liquidity program has benefited Delaware more than it has New Jersey.
New York lawmakers are again considering legislation to legalize online poker, but the effort hit a wall this week as Governor Kathy Hochul excluded projected iGaming revenues from the Empire State’s 2024 budget. This marks the third consecutive year he has sought to legalize online poker and casino games in New York. The event crippled online poker in the US, sending players to shady platforms or forcing them to quit altogether. Because poker has become such a significant part of the gaming environment, they all offer extensive resources on how to play legal online poker in the U.S.
There have even been active pushbacks against online lottery ticket and scratch sales, which were subsequently banned in late 2014. Tribal compact negotiations dominate the gaming conversation, and tribes have been cautious about digital wagering. At that time, Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey were permitted to share liquidity, while Pennsylvania joined recently. Major national brands and other licensed operators are supervised by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. The earliest practical window for legalization, according to ongoing debate and the bill, is March 2026.