West Virginia Joins Online Poker Interstate CompactOperators Free To Include State In Shared Player Pools |
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As the U.S. has seen a state-by-state approach to online poker over the last decade, smaller population states faced longer odds in creating large enough player pools to create a successful card-playing market. That has been the case for West Virginia since state leaders legalized online poker and online casino gaming in 2018.
However, after becoming the fifth state to join the country’s Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) on Tuesday, state regulators are hoping that will change.
“I am pleased that our West Virginia iGaming providers will now have the opportunity to offer multi-state poker to our players,” West Virginia Lottery Director John Myers said. “This will greatly increase the potential pool of participants and thus allow our players to play for bigger winnings.”
Another Interstate Compact Member
The move places the Mountain State in the player pool that also features New Jersey, Michigan, Nevada, and Delaware. The agreement now allows West Virginia-based online poker players the possibility of playing against players from other states.
The MSIGA began as an agreement between the states of Nevada and Delaware in 2014 to share liquidity among players in the two jurisdictions. New Jersey joined in In 2017, followed by Michigan in 2022.
Lee Childs, who sits atop the West Virginia all-time money list, is excited to see the state where he lived for a decade get on the bandwagon. He lives in Virginia now, but says joining in interstate compacts will present more opportunities in West Virginia and he can now play when heading across the border.
“I spent a lot of my early years in poker grinding tournaments online,” Childs tells Card Player. “We don’t really have any tournament options in West Virginia and the cash games are very limited. Online poker provides new players a low-stakes platform to learn the game and with West Virginia joining the multi-state agreement, we will all have the opportunity to compete in major tournaments without the expense and time required for travel.”
Currently, there are two operators making use of interstate markets. WSOP.com offers a shared platform between Nevada and New Jersey, with 888poker in Delaware formerly part of that until the state recently changed online gaming providers. PokerStars also began offering a shared market between Michigan and New Jersey at the start of this year.
With a population of almost 1.8 million people West Virginia was probably too small to create a significant online poker ecosystem. The state at least now has the opportunity to boost other U.S. online poker networks. Interested operators will need to submit a letter of intent to the West Virginia Lottery to gain regulator approval.
We can officially welcome West Virginia to the party! Great work by many at WV Lottery to help this become a reality. Deal em up. https://t.co/JJC8o3e0Qw
— Shawn Fluharty (@WVUFLU) November 14, 2023
Shared Liquidity Also Coming To Connecticut?
West Virginia isn’t the only small state potentially joining the MSIGA. Connecticut leaves online gaming to the state’s tribal gaming operators – the Mohegan Tribe, which operates the Mohegan Sun, and the Mashantucket Pequot, which operates Foxwoods. An October report indicated that tribal leaders are at least considering joining the shared liquidity market.
“It’s coming eventually,” Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler told PlayUSA. “The issue with online poker in every market is liquidity. If you don’t have a large enough pool, it’s not as successful. And so we haven’t gone down the path of trying to identify how we do those multistate agreements and the like that would build enough liquidity for it to be worthwhile for the players and for us.”
Connecticut legalized online gaming, including poker, in 2022. The state has yet to see any operators enter the market however. With a population of 3.6 million, the Constitution State potentially offers another nice player pool addition to a shared liquidity market.
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