West Virginia has become the fifth US state to enter the historical Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), availing its gambling population of a plethora of interactive gaming among the other member states of the Association.
Online poker aficionados from West Virginia will be able to engage in gameplay against players in Nevada, Michigan, Delaware, and New Jersey. The news comes about one year after the West Virginia Lottery reiterated its intention to join the multi-state agreement.
West Virginia Lottery, “Pleased” to Offer Multi-state Poker
As explained by West Virginia Lottery director, John Myers, by joining the important agreement that was originally introduced in Nevada and Delaware in 2014, the Mountain State is expected to significantly boost the “potential pool of participants” while enabling their players to engage in interesting play for even greater winnings.
Director Myers took the opportunity to express their excitement that their West Virginia iGaming providers “will now have the opportunity to offer multi-state poker” to their players.
All iGaming service providers in the state that would like to provide multi-state poker will need to send a letter of intent to the Lottery which will also need to receive the approval of the rest of the member states.
The same iGaming service providers interested in jumping on the wagon will need to work toward obtaining the required seals of approval from the state as well as other relevant member states prior to being allowed to go live.
Current State of Things
The Multi-State Internet Gaming Association LLC is a Delaware-based corporation responsible for managing the affairs of all member states as part of the Agreement.
For the time being, Nevada, Michigan, and West Virginia are the three US states offering online poker to member states. New Jersey and Delaware also display their own online poker offerings, alongside the rest of specific online gaming solutions for the full spectrum of gaming options.
The MSIGA is, for the time being, a unique agreement to the United States that does not have a correspondent in the European Union.
In April 2022, when Michigan joined the MSIGA together with its 10 million residents, Delaware Lottery’s internet gaming manager, and the association’s manager, Rebecca Satterfield, expressed the association’s interest in welcoming additional gaming jurisdictions eager to join the Agreement.
Following the news of Michigan entering the MSIGA, online poker fans in Pennsylvania expressed their optimism regarding the potentially bright future of online poker in the Keystone State, in spite of lacking any official indications of such a plan.