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Bwin, PartyPoker, MGM and Boyd Gaming announced Monday their intention to offer Internet poker to US players should the industry become legalized. There is a strong push to get Web poker sites up and running for real cash play at the federal level especially since states like California and New Jersey are vying for a piece of the pie ahead of the federal government.
Under the terms of the deal, Bwin would own 65 per cent of a new company to offer poker to US players, while MGM would own 25 per cent and Boyd 10 per cent.
Pwin co-CEO Jim Ryan told Forbes: “Effectively you will have four brands in the US and all four brands will be acquiring players and putting them in one hub, one poker network.”
Proposed legislation would regulate and tax online gambling. One bill was introduced in June and is designed to protect consumers who legally play a skill-based game online from fraud and other potential harms. The foregoing bill proposes to modify the Act’s restrictions to authorize financial services providers to process transactions for licensed gambling activities. The proposed bill would make it a crime to operate an Internet gambling facility that accepts bets or wagers from individuals within the United States without a license.
The Commerce Department would be charged with the responsibility and authority to qualify state agencies to issue licenses to qualified Internet poker facilities. States could opt-out of the program and restrict the placement of Internet bets or wagers within their borders.
The state opt-out provision would probably look something like what we see in the legalized online horse betting sector. For example, Churchill Downs-owned TwinSpires.com allows US horse bettors to wager legally from their website. 13 states have currently chosen to opt out for various reasons (New Jersey to protect its own horse racing industry we suppose, Utah just doesn’t want gambling period). States like Texas opt-out and back in regularly we are told.
bwin.party digital has seen their shares soar, up 11p at 120.7p, following the announcement.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
