Multi-state online poker compact bill introduced in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania may join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement after a bill was introduced to allow online poker shared player liquidity in the state.

House Bill 2078 was introduced by Representative George Dunbar. Under the bill Pennsylvania online poker operators would be able to enter in to compacts to share players with other states that allow legal online poker. The bill would aim to bring shared player liquidity as quickly as possible and includes a provision that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board request membership in the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement within 30 days of it becoming law.

The Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement currently includes Nevada, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, and West Virginia. However, online poker has yet to be launched in Delaware or West Virginia. Players pools are currently being shared by Michigan and New Jersey through PokerStars, and Nevada and New Jersey through WSOP.com.

Four online poker operators are currently active in Pennsylvania, including WSOP.com, PokerStars, BetMGM, and Borgata Poker. In 2023 those four operators reported $30.6 million in combined revenue. Pennsylvania is among the top online gambling markets in the country with a reported $2.1 billion in revenue from all iGaming sources in 2023.

With a population of 13 million people Pennsylvania is larger than any of the other states that have signed on to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. Michigan is the next largest with 10.1 million, and if Pennsylvania were to join the combined population of the six states in the agreement would be approximately 38.3 million.