Home / Poker News June 2012 / Online Poker Authorized in Delaware
Online Poker Authorized in Delaware
Posted by: James Carter. - Fri, 2012-06-29 16:17
A little more than a day ago, the Delaware Senate approved the Gaming Competitiveness Act, which has essentially opened the way up for legal online poker. Not even a full 24 hours afterwards, Gov. Jack Markell signed the bill into law, making Delaware the second US state to legalize online poker. Some found the swift gubernatorial approval refreshing after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s more than annoying flip-flops on the matter.
Experts never doubted though that the Governor would be on board with the bill, since it was basically his bill to begin with. According to Rep. John Viola, who introduced the bill, the law was the handiwork of the Governor, he was merely the driver of the bus as he put it.
The entity responsible for the formulation of the actual rules and the testing of the platform which will provide online poker and gambling for Delaware residents is the Delaware Lottery. According to Viola, all technicalities are expected to be taken care of by January, so that’s when the system is projected to go online.
The operators which are the direct beneficiaries of the bill are three Delaware racinos which will set up websites and launch operations as soon as the system is ready to go live. The said sites will offer
internet poker games as well as online casino action and even lottery tickets.
The bill cleared the Senate floor with a 14-6-1 vote, which isn’t really the landslide it seems to be since the senate requires a two thirds majority to pass a bill.
The fact that all sorts of online casino games will be offered by the online operators in Delaware was hailed as a success by Viola, who also said that he considered Delaware to be at the forefront of online gaming legislation-wise. Gaming is already a massive part of the Delaware budget, and the addition of online poker and gambling is expected to further raise state revenues.
