Michigan Online Poker Efforts Stir To Life: Report

Just days after Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware kicked off online poker player sharing in an effort to grow the internet betting market, efforts over in Michigan appear to be gaining some new momentum.

Per a report from GamblingCompliance, Michigan lawmaker Brandt Iden plans to push forward a revised version of his previously introduced online casino legislation. The bill would include allowing sports bets over the internet for Detroit’s three casinos, said the report.

Republican State Rep. Iden, the man spearheading the efforts, told Card Player in an interview last fall that he was optimistic about the bill in 2017. However, efforts were delayed thanks to the complexities of reforming the state’s existing gambling industry.

“We know that people are gaming on the internet in Michigan, in fact so much so that—I have a university very close to me—when I talk to college students and I ask them if they play online, they say that they play poker online and that they don’t realize it’s illegal in the state,” Iden said.

Casino gambling is big business in Michigan. The three Detroit casinos win about $1.4 billion a year combined and the 23 tribal casinos win about $1.5 billion combined annually.

Michigan is well-suited for an online casino industry because it kicked off internet lottery sales in 2014, a market that reached about $80 million last year.

In October, Pennsylvania became the fourth state in the country with legalized online casinos, but the Keystone State platforms have yet to launch. Like Pennsylvania, Michigan has eyed about $300 million in additional gambling revenues thanks to the internet.

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