Last year we saw no real progress in the advancement of online poker laws in individual US states. That is not to say that no attempts were made to legalize and regulate online poker, but none came as far as New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada – the only three states that have regulated online poker industries.
So will we see any serious progress in 2017? It stands to reason to the following four states will be the first to legalize and regulate their industries, if not this year than in the coming years: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts and New York. We’d love to add California into that mix but after a decade of attempts to get interest groups lined up to agree on the terms of one law, we won’t wager on the Golden State being on the 2017 list.
However, there are several other states that may also make a run for online poker this year.
Take the cases of Ohio and Maryland as an example. While both states don’t necessarily have a specific reason to legalize online poker, they may need to do so to keep ahead of the game as their neighboring states continue to improve their own industries. If progress is made in Michigan and Pennsylvania and their online gambling industries are legalized, Ohio will find itself suddenly faced with online gambling states as neighbors. It may leave the state no choice, then, to move in the same direction.
Or take the case of Indiana, which has had any attempts to legalize online gambling in the past stamped out by Governor Mike Pence. It could be good news for fans of online poker, then, that Pence is headed to the District of Columbia to serve as vice-President to Donald Trump.
Serious efforts are also been made in Florida, with a strong grassroots movement, headed by Martin Shapiro to push for legislation. The main obstacle in the path of the Sunshine State’s poker fans, however, lies with Governor Rick Scott who is a huge supporter of federal online gambling legislation.
Since 2012, serious efforts have been made to introduce online gambling to Mississippi and the idea has been proposed every year in the four years since then. Lawmakers may finally relent that the proposition is a good one, considering that the state’s current gambling industry has experienced sliding revenues in recent years.
What is interesting is that if even one of the above states legalizes online gambling, it could lead to a domino effect as other states are forced to do the same in order to protect their own gaming industries from competition.
