West Virginia is one of the six states in the U.S. with online casinos available, but the games on those sites are still a bit limited. For online gamblers looking to get in on some live poker games, they won’t be able to find any of those options in West Virginia.
The West Virginia Lottery controls all forms of online gaming in the state, and there have been some interesting rules in place. By not allowing online poker, the WV Lottery is keeping a significant amount of money from coming into the state.
That all could be changing soon though as the Lottery is expected to allow online poker games later this year. Online poker has been legal in the state since 2019, and it’s been a long wait for players and operators to have this option.
An official launch date has not been set, but it won’t take operators long to launch those games when the option becomes available.
A Solid Market
Even though the lack of online poker games is a big drawback for this industry in West Virginia, this market has still be strong in the state. There are currently nine different online casinos in the state, and there are eight online sportsbook options as well.
Online casino revenue is right around $16 million on average per month, while the sports betting revenue is sitting at $6 million per month. Online casino revenue continues to grow in the state, but the same can’t be said for sports betting.
West Virginia is without a professional sports team, and that hurts the overall sports betting numbers. Eventually, the online casino action will slow down as well, but new excitement could be generated by adding online poker.
Other states with online casinos tend to dwarf West Virginia when it comes to the overall numbers, but this state has still been able to hold its own. Online poker has proven to be a hit in other parts of the United States, and that will be something to watch here as well.
Options Could be Endless
When online poker is finally able to go live in the state of West Virginia, players should have plenty of options to explore. There is hope that these online poker games will be live by the end of the first quarter, but that remains to be seen.
West Virginia is a part of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, and that will allow players to play interstate poker. They were the fifth state to join that agreement, and the other states are Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, and New Jersey.
Now the operators are going to have to choose what types of poker games will be offered in the state when it becomes official. Not all of the games can be played against players from other states, but there will be some great options to explore.
There are several reasons as to why online casinos have not yet launched online poker, but preparations are being made in the background. Once one operator goes live, others are expected to join in a hurry.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.