In an effort to bolster Pennsylvania’s flagging online poker market, Representative George Dunbar has introduced legislation that would clear the way for the Keystone State to enter the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), giving online poker players the ability to compete with card sharks in five other states for exponentially larger pools than they are able to legally play for now.

This past October, online poker operators in Pennsylvania recorded their lowest collective monthly revenue since February 2020, the last month before the COVID pandemic pushed scores of gamblers online as retail casinos closed in the interest of public health. Further illuminating how underwhelming the current situation is in Pennsylvania, the state only had one online platform (PokerStars) back in the early days of 2020, whereas now it has four.

As US Bets’ Gary Rotstein observed in November, joining the MSIGA “would certainly do something to boost play and revenue” in Pennsylvania, which would become the largest state involved in the pact if Dunbar’s legislative push bears fruit. The five jurisdictions currently offering interstate poker through the MSIGA are Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia.

Rep. Dunbar is the primary sponsor of HB 2078 and he is joined by four fellow Republican co-sponsors and one Democrat (Rep. Ed Neilson). The bill would empower the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to request membership in the MSIGA within 30 days of the effective date of the legislation, should it successfully pass into law.

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