Joining forces

Michigan will soon be able to pool online poker players with Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey. The state is being added to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), meaning that Michigan online poker players will be able to play against people in the three other states.

almost doubles the agreement’s total player traffic

The Delaware-based Multi-State Internet Gaming Association is in charge of the agreement. The announcement on Wednesday is a big boost to the shared liquidity pool, as it almost doubles the agreement’s total player traffic. It might also prompt other states that are currently ring-fenced, namely Pennsylvania, to join the agreement.

The Michigan state government just needs to give its approval to officially enter the agreement. The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) will also need to approve each poker operator before they can start to share players across state lines.

Gradually expanding the player pool

The Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement was created in 2014 when Delaware and Nevada came together to pool online gamblers. New Jersey joined in 2017. Currently, Nevada and Michigan just allow the pooling of online poker players, while New Jersey and Delaware also allow for other types of online gambling.

Multi-State Internet Gaming Association manager Rebecca Satterfield welcomed Michigan and its ten million residents to the association. She spoke about how these people can now “avail themselves of a full array of interactive gaming among the association’s member states.” Satterfield, who also is the Delaware Lottery’s internet gaming manager, noted that the association is happy to welcome other states to become a part of the agreement in the future.

Online poker in Michigan

Interstate poker became a reality in Michigan following the signing into law of a bill in 2020. However, there was no interstate agreement in place, which meant that there has been no sharing of player pools with other states since online poker launched in January 2021.

The Caesars Entertainment-owned World Series of Poker (WSOP) online poker offering only went live last month in Michigan. It will soon be able to share player liquidity between four states. The other two online poker operators in the state are BetMGM Poker and PokerStars. They both have sites up and running in New Jersey, which means that they will be able to pool players for the first time with another state.