Wyomans may be able to place online casino and poker bets by 2026 if preparations for a 2025 iGaming bill succeed in helping the upcoming measure pass. Wyoming gaming regulators and lawmakers have been studying the matter in a legislative committee and recently hired the Spectrum Gaming Group to conduct iGaming feasibility research.
State Rep. Bob Davis, R-Baggs, told Bonus after his 2024 online casino and poker bill died that he will introduce a new measure in 2025. He said in February that lawmakers would discuss the matter during the summer. That happened on June 21 in Gillette and again on Sept. 27 in Douglas.
Davis spoke during the June meeting of the Wyoming Legislature Joint Appropriations Committee about his reason for advocating legalizing Wyoming online casinos:
I don’t think we’re ever going to stomp out the illegal sports wagering. But can we capitalize on it? Make it somewhat safe for people to operate in?
Same way with the iGaming. Same way with the horse racing. Same way with anything — dog racing, chicken/rooster fighting.
I mean, we can go down this whole line. We can put up regulations to stop this but we can’t prevent it. So we need to look at how to best protect our public and give them assureties. … How do we protect our people? And that is for the gaming commission to vet these people and give them a respectable platform to work off of.
Davis didn’t immediately answer emailed questions from Bonus on Sept. 27 that were sent to him while he was attending the Douglas meeting.
The next meeting is scheduled for Halloween in Cheyenne.
UPDATE: 10/1/2024
Davis told Bonus on Oct. 1:
The gaming commission is doing a study on gaming in Wyoming and we are waiting to see what it has to say. That will determine if I run a bill again.
2025 Wyoming Online Casino Bill Reasoning
Davis correctly asserts that illegal offshore gambling sites are operating in Wyoming, apparently including Bovada. State gaming regulators have been sending “cease and desist” letters to that site’s owner, Curaçao-based Harp Media. Since June, the site’s list of off-limits US jurisdictions has grown from five to 14. Wyoming isn’t on the restricted list.
Meanwhile, Wyomans placed their first legal online sports bets on Sept. 1, 2021. The least populated state, at nearly 600,000 residents, has generated $2,913,491 since then by taxing sportsbooks at 10.6%, according to Legal Sports Report. Bonus and LSR are Catena Media publications.
The 2024 bill Davis sponsored, HB120, proposed the same tax rate for Wyoming online casinos and poker rooms.
Wyoming Online Casino Research
On Aug. 28, Charles E. Moore, executive director of the Wyoming Gaming Commission (WGC), penned an Introduction Letter “To Whom It May Concern,” asking them to cooperate with Spectrum:
Their company has been contracted by the State of Wyoming to conduct a feasibility study throughout the state to provide a roadmap for the future of gaming in the Cowboy State.
The Paulick Report summarized on Sept. 25:
Throughout September and October, Spectrum Gaming Group will be conducting investigations, site visits, analyzing data, and assessing the current state of gaming in Wyoming. An early initial draft of their report is expected in early November.
The research is part of an overall review of Wyoming’s gaming industry.
According to the $11 billion biennial state budget that went into effect on July 1, regulators and lawmakers have $200,000 for “a statewide study of gaming in Wyoming.”
However, those funds are allocated for far more than the Spectrum study.
More Changes May Come
At the September committee meeting, the working group for the Comprehensive Review of Gaming in Wyoming presented a proposal to transfer the gaming commission to the Wyoming Department of Revenue.
In addition to the feasibility of online casinos and poker rooms, the review is evaluating, “all pari-mutuel wagering activities, live horse racing, historic horse race wagering, skill-based amusement games, and online sports wagering.”
The only Wyoming gambling facilities not included in the study but with their representatives invited to testify at the meetings were the state’s three tribal gaming facilities. Federal law and state gaming compacts govern Wyoming’s relationship with the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation.
In June, Travis McNiven asked, on behalf of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, that the tribes be allowed to offer sports betting. He also requested that they be included in iGaming laws.
About the Author
