Pennsylvania Officially Joins MSIGA; Gov. Josh Shaprio Sits Down w/ Mori Eskandani
Table Of Contents
Pennsylvania officially became the sixth state to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) on Wednesday as Governor Josh Shapiro gave his final approval on the online poker agreement.
With its population of over 13 million and over 150,000 online poker players, Pennsylvania brings much-anticipated shared liquidity to a player pool that includes players from New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, West Virginia, and Michigan.
In a press release, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said it would "work with operators and state gaming agencies to ensure that Pennsylvania’s approximately 150,000 online poker players are provided with the same assurances offered through other online gaming options by using a fair and thoroughly tested platform."
"This expansion will also afford larger prize pools without requiring an increase in buy-in amounts," the press release said.
After signing off on the agreement, Shapiro sat down with Poker Hall of Famer and PokerGO President Mori Eskandani for a conference call interview about the development to the online poker landscape.
Read More About MSIGA in Pennsylvania
"I Think It's Common Sense"
In his seven-minute interview with Eskandani, who played a pivotal role in increasing the popularity of poker during the Poker Boom, the Democratic governor described joining MSIGA after a years-long fight as "common sense."
"I think it's common sense," the governor told Eskandani. "There's a bunch of folks like you out there, including 150,000 people right here in my state ... who love to play poker online. And I think they should be able to play poker online not just with people from Pennsylvania, but they should be able to reach out and do it with people from other states; not have to wait as long for a game; and have games that are more vibrant and competitive."
Shapiro, who made national headlines earlier this month after an arson attack at the Pennsylvania governor's mansion that caused him and his family to evacuate, said he generally supported personal freedoms like gambling and added that he thought joining MSIGA could encourage other states to follow suit.
Is the US getting closer to legalizing online poker nationwide or in a majority of states? "I hope so. And not because I'm trying to encourage people to go out and gamble or play poker or do something else. It's up to you. But if you want to do that, I think it's important to make it easy."
Shapiro even accepted an invitation to a poker game for government officials inside the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
"That would be cool," he said. "We should do that. That would be a lot of fun. We'll probably talk a lot of sh*t on one another even though we all really like each other."
BetMGM Poker Joining MSGIA
Also on Wednesday, BetMGM Poker PA announced that it would join the BetMGM Poker shared player pool with New Jersey and Michigan on Monday, April 28 at 9 a.m. local time.
“Pennsylvania represents the largest state to join the shared player pool and turbocharges our poker platform," BetMGM Vice President of Gaming Angus Nisbet, said in a press release. "This expanded player pool will allow us to deliver more games and bigger tournaments to our players. BetMGM Poker is ready to celebrate the growth of our shared liquidity network throughout the spring and summer in a variety of ways.”
BetMGM Poker ambassador and four-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion Darren Elias said that adding a large market like Pennsylvania "is a huge milestone in continued expansion and provides the opportunity to compete against more players and for larger prize pools."
"I used to call Pennsylvania home, and it played an important part in my early poker career. I can't wait to log in and get in the mix," Elias said.
Other Pennsylvania online poker operators like WSOP PA and PokerStars PA have yet to say whether they plan on joining MSIGA.
