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West Virginia Online Gambling Bill Passes in House – Moves to Senate

West Virginia has been one state that has been pursuing online gambling regulation despite the DOJ reversal on their Wire Act opinion. While some thought that issues surrounding the Wire Act would slow down progress towards iGaming regulation, the opposite appears to be the case.

On Friday, Online Poker Report revealed that the Mountain State has moved forward with plans for iGaming, passing an iGaming expansion bill in the state House. The bill now moves on to the state Senate where it is expected to receive a favorable reception.

Bill Passes By Over a 3:1 Vote in WV State House

House Bill 2934, the West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act, was passed by the WV House on Friday by an overwhelming majority. It received a 72-22 vote, allowing the bill to move on to the state Senate.

This bill, if passed, will regulate both online casino games and online poker, making West Virginia the fifth state in the United States to regulate online gambling in some form. New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania all have both online gaming and online poker while Nevada has only regulated online poker.

West Virginia is looking to make it easy for casinos to take their wares online, only requiring a licensing fee of $250,000 and a 15 percent tax on gross revenue. Should the state pass this bill, odds are that most of the major players in online gambling would rush to the Mountain State due to this alone.

Online Gambling and Poker Have Favorable Odds

The next step for this bill is the state Senate and the bill will start in the Senate Finance committee. This bill’s progress seemed a bit unlikely after the DOJ issued their new opinion on the Federal Wire Act, but it appears that lawmakers are not concerned.

Of course, West Virginia can take the safe approach to regulation and ensure that all processes are kept intrastate for now. After the Wire Act issue is cleared up, then they can proceed accordingly, provided that the opinion is struck down.

For now, we will wait and see what happens with the bill in the Senate. At present, it appears that there’s little in the way to slow the bill’s progress short of some unexpected changes in the Senate. West Virginia has already regulated sports betting in the state, so online gambling would be the next logical progression for state gambling expansion.

What To Expect From West Virginia

This is one time where I am happy to say that I was wrong. Previously, I had predicted that online gambling regulation would stall in West Virginia, and other states, due to the Wire Act opinion. Now that the matter is being challenged in the courts, it appears that West Virginia is feeling comfortable enough to move forward.

There is another angle that this could take. Lawmakers could pass this bill, but then put everything into a holding pattern to see what happens with the Wire Act. If the opinion is overturned, then they can move forward unobstructed. Should the opinion remain upheld or get tied up in the court system for an extended time, then the industry could adjust to stay legal under the new opinion.
At this point, I think that there is about a 75/25 chance of this bill passing, with the 25 percent against being if Senate lawmakers start tinkering with the current bill. However, even if this bill passes, I don’t think we will see a launch of online poker or online casino gambling in West Virginia anytime in 2019. Rather, lawmakers will sit back and wait for the Wire Act drama to play out and then move forward with a likely launch in the Spring or Summer of 2020.

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