Pennsylvania to Legalise Online Poker in 2014

Pennsylvania follows in the footsteps of Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware in kicking off the process of legalising online poker.

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This April, Ultimate Poker, the first ever legal online poker room of the United States launched in Nevada. WSOP.com has since followed suit and is currently hosting even more players than its rival. The State of Delaware joined later and New Jersey is opening its market soon. On 21 November, a five-day test period starts with select players granted the opportunity to play in the rooms, for testing and bug fixing purposes. If the operators – Borgata.com, PartyPokerNJ.com, Let’sPlayNJ.com (Betfair), UCasino.com (Ultimate Poker), Tropicana.net and GoldenNuggetPoker.net – manage to perform well, real money poker is going live in the state.

Next state in line to legalise the game can be Pennsylvania; the western neighbour of the State of New Jersey had previously attempted to pass a bill in the matter but the Democrats’ proposal was rejected by the Republican majority legislation. More than one politician emphasised that online gaming was not a priority issue in Pennsylvania but the current bill has a different context and it is likely to be accepted in 2014.

“Pennsylvania has a Republican controlled legislature and Governor’s office, therefore, Democratic proposals are far less of a priority for lawmakers there. Having a senior Republican, like Tommy Tomlinson, grab the reins on legislation will change the dynamic and give the effort more energy,” PPA’s John Pappas commented.

The opening of the New Jersey market can be of considerable importance, as the legislatives of Pennsylvania are eager to see online poker in action in the neighbouring state to come to a final decision. As OnlinePokerReport.com writes, “specifically, Pennsylvania will be watching to see:

• What sort of revenue New Jersey derives from regulated online gambling / poker.
  
• What, if any, political blowback ensues.
  
• What impact regulated online gambling has on NJ’s land based-revenues.
  
• What perceived impact NJ iGaming has on Pennsylvania’s land-based revenues.”

Most players would, of course welcome another addition to the list of stares where online poker is legal in the USA. They hope to see a shared market as soon as possible and would happily return home if the liquidity was good enough.