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Delaware was the first state to join the union in the US and now they are looking to become the first state to offer online poker via multi-state compacts. On Tuesday, they moved one step closer to that reality.
The state House on Tuesday approved a bill authorizing online betting in Delaware and more venues for sports wagering and other gambling.
In addition to online slots and table games, the proposal by Gov. Jack Markell expands keno beyond Delaware's three existing casinos to at least 100 sites.
The bill, which was approved on 29-to-8 vote and now goes to the Senate, also authorizes betting on NFL games in at least 20 more sites other than the casinos.
When it comes to online poker, being small is sometimes good.
Delaware doesn’t have to deal with a lot of external groups that carry their own agendas a la what has been transpiring in the much larger state of California where Tribal casinos have made it all but impossible to pass Web poker legislation.
Being small also has its drawbacks. Delaware, with a population that barely cracks the 900,000 mark, will have a difficult time sustaining a viable Internet poker industry on its own.
Instead, Delaware is looking to form compacts, naming two interested partners at the onset, West Virginia and Rhode Island.
The First State is also looking to get a jumpstart on neighboring New Jersey, which itself would like to be a hub for online poker. New Jersey’s efforts to legalize and regulate the industry have been pushed back until the fall.
Nevada became the true “first state” to legalize Web card rooms, however, they have yet to express an interest in forming compacts until federal legislation is passed. At the current time, that looks highly unlikely to occur within the next 12 months, if ever.
The online poker landscape in the US is beginning to take root with a model suggesting that a handful of states will look to operate as hubs, forming alliances with other states across the continental US that are not direct neighbors (i.e. direct competitors).
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com and the Associated Press
