With this news, Michigan becomes the fifth state in the United States to offer legal online poker, joining the likes of New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Online poker is spreading much more slowly than legal sports betting in the United States, and the reason is simple - money. Sports betting is much more of a lucrative business in.
Poker players in Michigan might be getting a stocking full of good news this holiday season. State Sen. Curtis Hertel, a key proponent of this year’s gambling legislation, says he intends to put an online poker bill on the governor’s desk before winter break. The expedited timeline was first reported by Matthew Kredell of Legal Sports Report after a Thursday conversation with the senator.
As is the case with online casinos and online poker, the casinos will be able to offer a single brand of Michigan online sports betting for players. While this provision limits the expansion a bit (some states allow multiple skins), the sheer number of casinos in the state means that Michiganders are likely to have roughly 20 online sportsbooks from which to choose.
Online poker is now legal in Michigan. In December 2019, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of gambling expansion bills into law. In addition to legalizing sports betting, online casinos and daily fantasy sports contests, these bills legalized online poker in Michigan. We have yet to see when the first online poker sites will go live in Michigan.
On December 20th, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer finally signed the bill making online poker available in the state of Michigan. Apart from online poker, the long-awaited bill also legalises.
Michigan is a pretty good state for poker players. Home games are okay. Casino poker is fine, too. And online poker is a grey area at worst, although the state has changed its mind a couple times (more on that in a second). So, I wouldn’t hold out for online poker. But if playing live poker piques your interest, read up on your options below.
The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we attempt to summarize the current legal status of online poker in the United States. You may be surprised to learn that, despite a confusing legal landscape, it is generally accepted that playing online poker is currently legal in the U.S., at least at the federal level.
And with that in mind, there are some states that are on our watch list for passing 2018 online poker legislation. Michigan. A state that was considered an underdog until about one year ago is now a top contender to legalize and regulate online poker and casino games in 2018. State Senator Mike Kowall spent time over the last two years.