Will Multistate Poker Finally Come to Pennsylvania?

All eyes are on Governor Josh Shapiro as the Keystone State comes down to the buzzer on its Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. Pennsylvania accepted an offer to join the five other states that make up the compact in early January of this year, with a planned rollout in early spring.

Once completed, the state will join Delaware, New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, and Nevada in allowing players to play poker across state lines. By pooling liquidity and players, these states hope to create a stronger and more sought-after poker experience than one confined to just the players from one state where the game is legal.

Pennsylvania has not only 13 million residents but is also currently the crown jewel of online gaming. Monthly revenue from Pennsylvania online casinos and sportsbooks is currently the largest in the nation, at more than $260 million. So, adding it and its casino customers is likely to significantly boost play across all of the sites currently involved with the MSIGA platform. 

This is especially true as neither Delaware nor West Virginia currently offers a legal online poker site despite joining the interstate agreement several years ago. Nevada has a population of only slightly more than 3 million. The addition of Pennsylvania is a huge boost to the scheme going forward. 

Of the operators currently in Pennsylvania, the biggest winners look to be BetMGM, Borgata, WSOP, and PokerStars. BetRivers Casino currently has poker only in Pennsylvania but could choose to operate in other states once it gains a bit more experience. 

PokerStars has a substantial following in both Michigan and New Jersey and already offers online tournaments that can see prize money north of $2 million. The addition of Pennsylvania may see those numbers double or more. That kind of poker tournament prize money in legal, licensed online games hasn’t been seen in more than a decade.

WSOP and its new Poker 8 brand also operate in Michigan, New Jersey, and Nevada. Despite Nevada's small population, many poker professionals choose to reside there in order to practice their craft in brick-and-mortar casinos. Many of these players will be the first to welcome new Pennsylvania fish to any expansion that sees all four states sharing players.

Both BetMGM and Borgata Casino are owned by MGM, which has one of the biggest portfolios of both online and land-based casino players in the world. Interestingly, they don’t currently have Nevada tied into their MSIGA platform and only currently share players between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

But they are widely seen as the most technologically advanced as well as best positioned to not only add Nevada but hopefully West Virginia players to its offerings over the next several months. This, combined with what we are assured is the imminent arrival of Pennsylvania players, should finally realize the dream of the original founders of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement: a robust, liquid market with almost forty million potential players and the potential for large cash prize tournaments.