Poker News World

Poker News from around the World

 › US Poker News › Michigan to Introduce Online Gambling Bill

Michigan to Introduce Online Gambling Bill

Kathleen Girvan April 18, 2016     Comment Closed    

The state of Michigan is considering legalizing online gambling after Republican State Senator Mike Kowall introduced a bill last week to the Committee on Regulatory Reform. The proposed bill is entitled “The Lawful Internet Gaming Act” and would see online gambling, such as poker and casino betting, become fully legal and regulated within the Great Lakes State.

Kowall represents the 15th District in Michigan and has been a member of the state senate since 2010. He is also the vice chair of the Commerce and Oversight Committee and part of the Government Operations, Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, and the Regulatory Reform committees. Joining him as co-sponsors of the bill, are Senators Curtis Hertel Jr., Rebekah Warren, Bert Johnson, and Marty Knollenberg. Kowall supports the legalisation of internet wagering and has stated that he would like Michigan to become the fourth state (after New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Delaware) to allow residents to gamble online from the comfort of their own homes.

The bill seeks to “protect residents of this state who wager on games of chance and skill through the internet and to capture revenues and create jobs generated from internet gaming.”

The bill, if it came into effect, would, allow online gambling for players 21 and over. It would authorise poker and casino sites to provide online gambling services to customers. Michigan land-based casinos can apply for a license, and no more than eight licenses will be granted. There is a $5 million licensing fee (including an upfront, nonrefundable $100,000 fee). The $5 million fee is an advance payment against future taxes owed. The state will collect a 10% tax on gross gaming revenue from the casinos offering online gambling.

Michigan has already introduced online lottery sales in the state and its success could potentially influence legislators to vote in favour of the online gambling bill. They were one of the first states in the USA to launch online lottery sales, which began in January of 2015.

The location aspect of the bill is yet to be confirmed, as of yet it doesn’t seem to expressly restrict access to online gaming sites for players outside of Michigan. It hasn’t mentioned whether a player’s physical location will affect their ability to avail of online gambling. This most likely would open the door for international and interstate compacting.

The bill’s specifics dictate that only licensed Michigan casinos and “federally recognized” Native American tribes in Michigan that have already obtained gaming licenses may apply. Any tribe that wants to operate a site “waives its sovereign immunity with respect to conducting gaming under this act and paying fees and taxes imposed under this act.”

The last state to legalise online gambling in the US was New Jersey, two and a half years ago. It had disappointed many online poker fans in the U.S. that more states have not followed suit and begun to regulate internet poker.

The proposed bill has not set specific standards for features such as fraud prevention, problem gambling issues, cheating detection, but the bill does outline that the gaming commission can (and almost certainly will) assist in developing these standards and that the gaming operators must ascertain ways of upholding them.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

US Poker News

 Previous Post

Survey Finds UK Gambling Trends Changing

― April 11, 2016

Next Post 

US Firms Use Lobbying Groups in the Battle for Online Gambling

― April 25, 2016

Author: Kathleen Girvan

Related Articles

gerry ― December 29, 2018 | Comment Closed

Is Crypto-games.net the worst Bitcoin Casino?

Crypto-Games.net has been trending on online forums as one of the worst bitcoin casino. One thing that we can attest

gerry ― September 10, 2018 | Comment Closed

Chinese technology giant asked to shut down poker by the government

gerry ― June 26, 2018 | Comment Closed

Announcement on Doyle Brunson retirement from Poker

gerry ― November 7, 2017 | Comment Closed

BetOnline giving away free tickets to $100k Guaranteed Tournament

gerry ― July 8, 2017 | Comment Closed

Triple Crown Winner Mohsin Charania Shares His Views On Online vs. Live Poker

Kathleen Girvan ― August 1, 2016 | Comment Closed

Leo DiCaprio Auctions Poker Night For Charity

Kathleen Girvan ― July 25, 2016 | Comment Closed

WSOP Attracts Record Level of Entries in 2016

Kathleen Girvan ― July 4, 2016 | Comment Closed

Latest News From the WSOP 2016
Copyright © Half Cubed Limited