Pennsylvania Finally Opts for Multistate Online Poker—Sites Could be Networked by Next Year

Pennsylvania has finally elected to join multi-state poker networks.
Photo by Lightspring/Shutterstock

Pennsylvania will finally be taking a step poker players have been demanding for years, seeking to join the Multistate Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which will allow the state’s online poker sites to share tables and traffic with those in other states. At present, five states are party to MSIGA, although only three of them have active poker sites.

Online poker has been legal in Pennsylvania since 2019. However, until now, players in the state could only play against other Pennsylvanians.’

By contrast, New Jersey and Nevada have been sharing their poker pools since 2017. Michigan joined more recently. Also party to MSIGA are Delaware and West Virginia. However, Delaware’s only site shut down this year due to a change in operating partner for the state’s lottery monopoly on online gambling. West Virginia has never had an online poker site, though it has been legal to open one since 2020.

Play Pennsylvania (another Catena Media outlet) received word from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) that the regulator had received direct instructions from Gov. Josh Shapiro to “begin the process of negotiating the Commonwealth’s entrance into the Multistate Internet Gaming Agreement.”

PGCB Director of Communications Doug Harbach told Play Pennsylvania that it’s hard to know how long it will take to finalize Pennsylvania’s entry to the compact. However, the Governor understands the importance of doing so, writing:

In order to remain competitive in the gambling sector, I am expressing my strong support for Pennsylvania to join the MSIGA alongside Michigan, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey and West Virginia.

Pennsylvania should capitalize on our status as a leader in legalized gambling, and join this compact, which would bring in additional revenue for the Commonwealth and allow players more gaming options.

Pennsylvania in MSIGA is Good News for Delaware

The timing of the news is interesting, as Pennsylvania is poised to see the launch of the first new poker site in the US in many years. BetRivers Poker has received the regulatory green light from the PGCB and is just waiting for the operator to throw the switch. BetRivers’ owner, Rush Street Interactive, developed poker capabilities by acquiring Run It Once Poker from poker pro Phil Galfond in 2022.

Notably, Rush Street Interactive is Delaware’s new operating partner. Therefore, the launch of BetRivers Poker could foretell Delaware’s re-entry into multistate poker now that Pennsylvania is joining MSIGA.

Bonus speculated at the time of the BetRivers news that the company had chosen Pennsylvania for its debut because it wasn’t in MSIGA. Launching without multistate capabilities in an MSIGA-member state would put BetRivers Poker at a competitive disadvantage. At the same time, a synchronized, networked rollout of a brand-new product across multiple states would be a huge technological challenge.

That may still be the case, even with the news that Pennsylvania is joining MSIGA. If Michigan’s experience is any indication, joining the compact can be a lengthy process, and operators won’t necessarily be ready to begin interstate operations as soon as is legally possible. Michigan had intended to join MSIGA from the time its online gambling market launched in January 2021. However, it took over a year to join MSIGA, and two years before, the first site, PokerStars, took advantage of the opportunity.

Pennsylvania Rep. George Dunbar, who spearheaded the state’s MSIGA plans, told Play Pennsylvania he thinks the state can officially become a member of the compact before the end of the year. However, Bonus expects it will be well into 2025 before multistate poker is a concrete reality for Pennsylvania players.

About the Author

Alex Weldon

Alex Weldon

Alex Weldon is an online gambling industry analyst with nearly ten years of experience. He currently serves as Casino News Managing Editor for Bonus.com, part of the Catena Media Network. Other gambling news sites he has contributed to include PlayUSA and Online Poker Report, and his writing has been cited in The Atlantic.
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