Maine And Arkansas Online Poker Bills Shelved For 2025Neither State Could Get iGaming Legislation Out Of Committee Phase |
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The slim hopes of legalizing online poker and other casino games in two states are officially over.
Legislative efforts to legalize online gaming appear to have ended in Maine after LD 1164 stalled in the state’s Joint Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. A similar bill came up three votes short of passage in the state house last year.
Efforts to legalize online gaming in Arkansas now appear dead after the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Matt Duffield, pulled HB 1861= before it could even be heard at the committee level.
“In my view, I’m not certain it’s advantageous for me to ask members of this committee today for a hard ‘yes’ or hard ‘no’ for a topic that doesn’t need to have a rushed answer,” he told the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. “I would like to ask for an interim study on this bill so we can have further discussion and come to a solid conclusion we feel comfortable with, and that we’re not gonna be rushed through the process here at the end of session.”
The bill in Maine would have allowed the state’s tribal casinos to partner with online gaming operators. The tribes already offer sports betting in the state.
The plan called for taxing online gaming revenue at 16% and tasked the state’s Gambling Control Unit with regulatory duties. The bill also includes provisions restricting marketing, including “prohibiting misleading, deceptive or false advertisements.”
However, the state’s two commercial casinos expressed opposition to the plan, as they would be barred from offering online betting.
In Arkansas, the bill would allow the state’s three licensed casinos to operate online gaming platforms with the Arkansas Racing Commission regulating the industry. The plan would also make it a felony to offer an unregulated online gaming platform in the state.
Saracen Casino Resort chief market officer Carlton Saffa pushed for the bill to weed out unregulated online gaming operators in the state.
“Unregulated and untaxed casinos are live in Arkansas at great risk to consumers,” Saffa told the Arkansas Times. “These games are operated by shadowy offshore entities, many with links to China.”
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