Poker regulators in the United States declared last Wednesday that Michigan (MI) has officially joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA). This gave poker enthusiasts in the Wolverine State high hopes that it will soon have multistate online poker.
Besides, local players will get an opportunity to compete with those from Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey in a combined pool. This will be remarkable progress in shared liquidity in the country’s gaming industry.
Last Week’s Gaming Statement
The Multi-State Internet Gaming Association LLC announced last week that Michigan will join the MSIGA once it fully executes its agreement. The corporation is based in Delaware, and it manages the affairs of states who are in the MSIGA.
It welcomed the Wolverine State to its rank together with its almost 10 million residents. The move will allow them to access a broad variety of interactive gaming choices among its member states. Rebecca Satterfield, the Delaware Lottery manager and the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association LLC manager, said that the Gaming Association will continue developing the local gaming industry and convincing other gaming jurisdictions to join the agreement.
This Will Boost Shared Liquidity
The Gaming Association’s announcement was a week after WSOP introduced WSOP MI, thus making it the first online poker provider in the nation to have a shared player pool in several states, including Michigan. The WSOP MI, the player pool, was fenced in Michigan in its debut. Yet, things will change as Michigan is officially in MSIGA.
The new development might make BetMGM Poker and PokerStars merge their player pools in different states as they are the other poker providers in the Wolverine State. The online poker community celebrated when Michigan joined MSIGA.
Its huge population will double the four states’ combined player pool. Also, it might influence states that have legalized online poker and whose player pools are siloed like Pennsylvania, to consider joining the gaming compact.
Michigan’s Journey to Join the Compact
The state’s lawmakers approved online poker three years ago. Even so, it dealt its first online poker hand in January 2021.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation that allowed multistate poker. But, none of the state’s poker providers had joined the interstate agreements and hence couldn’t offer interstate play.
Reports emerged early this year stating that the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) and Whitmer were in a dilemma on who was supposed to sign the agreement to enter Michigan into the interstate gaming compact.
Yet, MGCB uploaded a five-page document after several weeks highlighting considerations and potential tasks that platform providers and operators would have.
The document had three steps that Michigan poker providers had to follow before they introduce multistate online poker. MGCB was required to have joined a multijurisdictional agreement, then all the involved parties in multistate poker had to acquire relevant approvals and licenses.
They should meet the board’s requirements before it authorizes them to launch multistate poker. The Gaming Control Board’s document has guidelines that highlight how Michigan online poker operators can introduce new gaming platforms to promote multistate poker.
Still, they can change their full poker operations to platforms that are based in other states.
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