Michigan Online Poker Bill Clears Committee VoteInternet Gambling Sites Discussed At Hearing This Week |
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Legislation in Michigan that would bring Las Vegas-style gambling, including poker, to the internet was able to advance on Wednesday.
It’s now going on an incredible four years since a U.S. state legalized online casino gaming. Just Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have regulated iGaming, which greatly limits liquidity and has left their combined market size at a little over $200 million.
More states need to enter the equation in order for online poker in America to flourish once again. In addition to Michigan, the states of California, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York are all looking at betting over the internet.
The Michigan bill cleared the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee by a 7-1 vote. Last year’s bill also got a committee sign-off, but it didn’t gain any additional traction in the legislature.
That was despite a lot of confidence from Sen. Mike Kowall, sponsor of the legislative efforts.
It’s not clear if the bill has any real chance this year, as the Gun Lake and Pokagon Potawatomi tribes oppose the legislation, according to a report from wtvbam.com. Two of the Detroit casinos are on the fence, which also isn’t good news.
Is there any reason to be optimistic here? It’s hard to say, but it’s worth noting that the online casino bill cleared the same committee last year, but it happened in June. So, this year the bill is up for a possible full Senate vote months earlier.
The bill was expected to pass the committee vote Wednesday because a majority of the lawmakers on the panel are co-sponsors of the legislation.
The legislation would allow both commercial and tribal casinos to have gambling sites. It was said at the hearing that the state’s iGaming market could be worth more than $300 million at maturation. New Jersey’s industry is growing at about 30 percent year-over-year, so Michigan’s estimation doesn’t seem too far-fetched.
The idea behind online casinos is to grow the state’s stagnant gambling market. The three Detroit casinos won $1.39 billion last year, but it was only 0.7 percent better than 2015. Those casinos ended the year with a 6.8 percent gaming win decline in December.
Michigan’s land-based gambling market is about $3 billion between the more than two dozen tribal and commercial casinos. Michigan has now looked at online casino games for the past four years. The state did decide to have an online lottery, kicking off those games in 2014.
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