Mississippi Online Poker Bill Dies In Committee

The landing page for the “Mississippi Lawful Internet Gaming Act of 2015” was updated this week with the word “Dead” in red. The bill lasted less than a month in the legislature.

The online poker proposal, pushed once again by state lawmaker Bobby Moak, has failed to gain any traction the last several years. The Tuesday deadline passed and thus Moak’s efforts fell short again in 2015. He’s expected to renew the proposal next year.

While the state of Mississippi has dropped out of the 2015 race for online poker, California and Washington (state) still have bills on their respective tables. Both are considered at best 50-50 for passage this year, however.

There is a silver lining to Mississippi’s poker bill failing this year. Included in the defunct proposal was language that would allow the state to send people who play on offshore poker sites to prison for up to three months, and/or fine them $10,000.

The proposal being pushed back to 2016 might give poker players more time to speak out against the provision in the bill that on the surface level sounds pretty solid.

Caesars Entertainment, Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts have casino interests in Mississippi, and all are involved with online betting either in Nevada or New Jersey, or both.

Mississippi’s casino industry wins more than $2 billion annually from gamblers, though two casinos in the state did close last year due to lackluster performances.

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