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Pennsylvania has officially ed the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, giving poker players in the state more options for their bets. As of April 28, any poker licensees ready to start seating Pennsylvanians with their peers in other states can legally do so.
Previous comments made by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to PlayPennsylvania suggested that at least some online poker operators in Pennsylvania would be ready to do so immediately. For online poker in the United States, the addition of players from the Keystone State is a massive development due to the state’s population and revenue potential.
Shapiro finalizes MSIGA inclusion for Pennsylvania
According to a press release from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), the state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, signed the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) on Wednesday. His signature on the agreement represented the final step for Pennsylvania’s ing the MSIGA.
Pennsylvania is the MSIGA’s sixth member, with the other five states being:
- Delaware
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- West Virginia
Inclusion in the MSIGA means Pennsylvanians will have access to interstate games provided by licensees in the several states. PGCB Communications Director Doug Harbach confirmed earlier in April that some of the licensed platforms could be ready to it Pennsylvania players as soon as they receive legal clearance.
BetMGM has confirmed that its platforms will be ready to add Pennsylvania players to the shared liquidity pools in BetMGM Poker and Borgata Poker on April 28. WSOP.com will also begin sharing liquidity with Pennsylvanians on the same date.
Pennsylvania’s five regulated online poker platforms represent a patchwork of access to interstate pools. With Pennsylvania in the mix, those pools are bound to grow enormously.
Pennsylvania brings tremendous boost to online poker in the US
As the PGCB release points out, the addition of Pennsylvania players to existing pools could enlarge those pools by 50% as the PGCB estimates that an additional 150,000 players might enter the fray. Addressable populations for online poker brands in Delaware, Nevada, and West Virginia have comparatively far less revenue potential.
That’s why most of the licensees in Pennsylvania have focused on Michigan and New Jersey to date. BetMGM Poker and Borgata Poker have limited their shared liquidity to those states while PokerStars has only operated in Michigan among the MSIGA states.
WSOP.com has the broadest reach as it adds Delaware and Nevada to Michigan and New Jersey.
The real impact of Pennsylvania’s ing the MSIGA will be financial. For players, pool sizes are set to grow substantially without an accordingly sizable increase in buy-in cost. That means more rake for operators and greater tax revenues for the states involved.
Pennsylvania’s population is almost as large as Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey combined. Interstate games might interest a greater portion of that populace, potentially making that 150,000-player estimate conservative. Regardless, Pennsylvania coming online is the biggest development for online poker in the US in decades.
