Online poker legislation remains frigid in the great white north, but the game has a few fans who are elected officials, and although lawmakers resisted expanding almost any type of gambling in here, online poker has a chance.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s upcoming monthly meeting includes a possible approval of GGPoker on the agenda.

GGPoker parent company NSUS appears on the slate for the PGCB’s scheduled regular monthly meeting, with NSUS in front of the board for approval of an Interactive Gaming Manufacturer License. If approved, GGPoker would become the fourth online poker operator approved for launch in Pennsylvania.

If Pennsylvania’s gaming regulatory agency approves NSUS for licensure, GGPoker would enter the US market for the first time. The rapidly-growing GGPoker network emerged as a major player in the international online poker market in 2020, competing with PokerStars for the title of the world’s largest online poker site.

The license would give NSUS clearance to launch both online poker and casino games in Pennsylvania. The Keystone State’s online poker market currently includes PokerStars PA as the only state-regulated platform.

WSOP.com and partypoker are also approved by the PGCB, with both companies expected to launch platforms sometime in 2021.

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The Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) runs Feb. 20 to March 8 with $1 million guaranteed across 60 events. In Pennsylvania, PokerStars still remains the online operator. WSOP.com / 888poker and partypoker have also been approved but poker players are still awaiting a launch date. No Florida law states that online poker, casino games, or sports betting sites are explicitly illegal. Florida is the south-easternmost state in America and is surrounded predominantly by the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Its northern border hits Alabama and Georgia, but its coastline is the most expansive of any of the 48 mainland states. The main restriction when it comes to gambling in Florida for the time being is online gambling. Bills for online gambling have already been introduced, and with the progressively more relaxed legislation in this State, the realisation of legalised online gambling, or online poker at least, doesn’t seem like such a.

GGPoker significantly raised its profile on the international poker scene throughout 2020. Beginning with the signing of poker icon Daniel Negreanu as an ambassador in November 2019, the GGPoker network rapidly rose through the ranks and became one of the most prominent poker sites in the world in 2020.

The brand operated the international side of two of the biggest online tournament series of 2020. The WSOP Online Bracelet Events Series offered tournaments on WSOP.com in the US, while offering a separate series for international players on GGPoker.

The 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event featured online play for the first time ever, using the same GGPoker/WSOP.com split for international and domestic players.

GGPoker Pennsylvania won’t share player pools with the international version of the platform. The entry of GGPoker into the Pennsylvania market does potentially put the Keystone State at the forefront of regulated online poker in the US, however.

The NSUS license application has been pending since December 2019. If approved, Pennsylvania would become the first US state to offer four different online poker operators.

A lawmaker in Illinois submitted a proposal that would legalize online poker and other casino games in the state.

Rep. Bob Rita filed HB 3142, which if passed would allow a casino or racetrack to offer up three platforms for online gaming. Within the legislature, it is being referred to as the Internet Gaming Act.

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Rita’s proposed legislation, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Carroll, would tax gross gaming revenue at 12%. Illinois legalized sports betting in 2019, which included online betting. The Internet Gaming Act would bring its gaming market up to speed with the state’s sports betting industry.

In a move that is bullish for its rollout of an online poker product, the bill expressly states that providers will be able to accept wagers from those that are out of state which opens the door for a compact with other online poker rooms from different states.

The only multi-state compact available currently is the one on WSOP.com between players living in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. But with the recent ruling on the Wire Act, more multi-state liquidity pools are likely to pop up in the future as more states legalize online gambling.

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The Illinois Gaming Board “may enter into agreements with other jurisdictions to facilitate, administer and regulate multijurisdictional approved internet games, including, but not limited to, poker,” read one section of the bill.

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The bill also calls for the regulators to adopt emergency rules within 90 days of the bill’s passage, which would likely make Illinois the quickest of any state to go from legislation to implementation with regards to online gambling.

If passed, Illinois would become the seventh state to legalize online poker. Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Michigan all have active online poker markets. West Virginia legalized it in 2019 but have yet to launch a market.

Several reports have said that the state was waiting for the ruling on the Wire Act because the market would be too small without a shared player pool from other markets.

Illinois would charge operators a $500,000 fee for its license and a renewal fee of $250,000. All of the money collected from internet gaming would be put into the state gaming fund.

The bill has been referred to the Rules Committee. If it passes, it will head to the floor for a full vote.