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Michigan Edges Closer to the Debut of Interstate Online Poker
By Jeff Osienya May 25, 2022 IndustryMichigan has officially joined New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware as the newest member of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA). Industry insiders speculate that Pennsylvania could be next in the interstate online poker pool.It’s all systems go in the Wolverine State as officials prepare to usher in interstate online poker. Michigan residents will soon be able to wager on their favorite online poker games alongside Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware players. Henry Williams, the Executive Director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), has signed the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which formally allows sharing online poker pools across state lines. The MGCB Executive Director announced Michigan’s MSIGA compact on Monday, saying in part:
Quote“I am happy to announce Michigan has joined the multi-state poker compact, and much of the increased tax revenue from multi-state poker will go to support K-12 education in Michigan. By joining, Michigan will almost double the potential pool of participants in multi-state poker games.”
True to Williams’ words, Michigan is the 10th largest US state in population with 10.1 million residents and will now boost the combined MSIGA population to a whopping 23.5 million.
The new MSIGA compact finally heralds the start of a long-awaited partnership between Michigan and the trio of interstate poker jurisdictions. Initial steps to joining MSIGA were made by the Great Lake State nearly two years ago when Senator Curtis Hertel (23rd District-East Lansing) sponsored SB 991, which changed the state’s internet gaming law. Senator Hertel sought to change things so that the law would allow multi-jurisdictional online Poker play. It was a successful move that eventually saw Governor Gretchen Whitmer signing it into law in December 2019.
A New Dawn For Michigan’s iGaming Scene
Online Poker is a game that does well with numbers. The more the people playing, the bigger the prize pool and the more competitive and exciting the game is. So, Michigan opening up its 10 million-strong population to the interstate poker pool means that it’s likely to bring in more money for MSIGA. Better still, there should be a more lucrative game portfolio with higher stakes for poker pundits.
This situation also favors Michigan in terms of ring-fencing of online poker markets under agreements of the MSIGA. With ring-fencing, the states only enable online poker to be operational within their borders alone. In case you are wondering why this is a big deal and why the states aren’t just going at it alone, the simple answer is that online poker thrives in numbers. The higher the number of people involved, the higher the possibility that online poker will be successful. There have been past attempts by states such as Delaware that have tried to do it alone but failed.
As you can imagine, Senator Hertel, one of the initiators of this thought process, expressed his happiness about the latest move by Michigan, saying,
Quote“Michigan poker players will enjoy more options and will likely play for bigger money when they can compete with players from other states. I am glad we were able to make this possible for Michigan poker players.”
MI Operators Still Have a Task Ahead to Make The Poker Pools Work
While the Mitten State is now in the final lap of crossing the interstate online poker finish line, operators still have some work to do to make it a reality. BetMGM Poker MI, Pokerstars MI, and WSOP MI still have some steps to complete to get the all-clear from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
First, the three operators must meet all the conditions and requirements outlined in the MSIGA agreement. They then will be required to receive approval from the MGCB if they intend to launch any new platforms or add any modifications to their platforms. There will also be a need for the three operators’ technical standards to be reviewed by the MGCB to ensure that they meet the benchmarks set by the board. Additionally, new suppliers and vendors of online poker in the state will also be required to get approval and licenses to operate in Michigan.
These measures are meant to ensure that current top-tier standards that Michigan online poker players are already used to will be maintained even with the expansion. On this matter, Executive Director Williams added that:
Quote“The operators have work to do before Michigan residents may join multi-state poker games. The MGCB must make sure Michigan residents are protected when they play multi-state poker, and we will apply the same rigor to review the offering as we have other internet games.”
As exciting as the MSIGA news is, state officials haven’t announced a due date for launching the expanded poker pools. As such, Michigan online poker fans will have to play the waiting game until a debut date is announced.
Pennsylvania’s Name Keeps Coming Up
There’s just something about Pennsylvania that keeps its name popping up in MSIGA conversations about prospective new states joining the interstate online poker pools. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that it boasts a 13 million-strong population which would significantly boost the online poker scene for MSIGA.
To date, however, there has been no firm indication from the Coal State that it will join MSIGA. But, be that as it may, there have been talks of the move happening in the future. And so, it remains to be seen whether this will come to fruition.
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