The United States poker industry has been anxiously waiting to see which state will be the next to introduce online poker legislation. All eyes have been on the state of California but it is the state of Pennsylvania that has introduced legislation this week for online poker.
According to a recent report by Card Player, a new bill was put forth yesterday which would legalize online poker in the state. Senator Bob Mensch and Senator Edwin Erickson are the sponsors of the bill. The bill states that the technological developments and the legal decisions made recently have created opportunities for the legalization of interactive poker. The bill further stated that the option would further the benefits that are delivered by local casinos and licensed facilities as well as the communities where they operate.
If the bill is passed the state would be able to create compacts for online poker with other states. According to the bill: “Authorized interactive gaming, once fully developed, will allow persons in this Commonwealth to participate in interactive poker, not only with other persons in this Commonwealth, but with persons in other cooperating United States jurisdictions where interactive poker has been authorized.”
The new poker bill also covers Bad Actor clauses and has the language that basically forbids any company that has operated in the state after December 31st 2006 to be ineligible for a license if the option is passed. The new bill was released after the information from a study conducted by the state for online poker was presented to the public. The study showed that the state could create as much as $129 million annually in revenues.
It will be interesting to see how the new legislation is received and if the bill will actually move forward and be passed. The state seems to be steadily moving in the direction to offer online poker, especially with the nearby competition of Delaware and New Jersey.
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