Categories: Poker News
| Published On Mar 29, 2019 12:52 pm CET  |  Updated on May 2, 2021 11:55 am CEST | By iGaming Team

West Virginia legalizes online poker

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The status of online poker received a recognition in West Virginia as it became the fifth state of the Unites States to pass legislation regulating the activity. “We are expecting to launch this at the earliest. But we think that we could make it possible by 2020,” reported a source. Both West Virginia’s House and Senate has given a nod to the online gambling legislation with the latter vote coming on March 8. The bill was then sent to Governor Jim Justice for his signature so that it could have become a law. However, when the Justice took no action over the bill, his opportunity to veto got passed according to the West Virginia law and that meant the bill automatically became a law. This had happened in Michigan as well and after that West Virginia followed suit. Governor Jim Justice allowed sports betting to pass in a similar way after United States Supreme Court struck down the federal laws which prohibited sports gambling outside Nevada.

Under the reframed law, now five licenses will be set aside one for each of the West Virginia’s five casinos namely Casino Club at The Greenbrier, Mardi Gras Casino and Resort, Hollywood Casino Charles Town, Mountaneer Casino and Wheeling Island. Each venue is allowed to pay $250,000 for a five-year license with $100,000 renewals good for another five years. Online gaming shall be taxed at 15 percent according to the law. Although it is a big move for the online gaming industry of West Virginia, the extent up to which this law will impact West Virginia still remains open.