Michigan has become the latest state to legalize online poker and casino games in America. There are 26 casinos across the state that will now be able to offer plenty of exciting gaming opportunities to players across the state.
The gambling expansion legislation has been signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, just one year after Rick Snyder vetoed a similar bill. This is the biggest gambling expansion that the state has ever seen, and it will allow for residents to engage in online poker, online casino games, sportsbetting and daily fantasy sports.
How Online Gambling In Michigan Will Work
Online gambling in Michigan will work in a similar way to the gambling markets in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The state’s 3 commercial casinos and 23 tribal casinos will be able to apply for online gambling licenses. They will then be able to team up with one online casino and one online poker operator to provide them with online games.
The application fee will be $50,000 and the initial licensing fee will be $100,000. After this year, operators will have to pay a $50,000 renewal fee every year. Taxes will range from 20% to 28%, which will depend on each casino’s online gaming revenue. Free-play games will also be offered by casinos, which they can use as a deduction on their gross gaming revenue.
These are quite interesting numbers, when you consider how expensive licensing fees in other states are. For example, operators in Pennsylvania had to pay a $1 million application fee, and they are taxed at a rate of 36%. So, we’re likely to see many more operators applying for licenses in Michigan which will provide players with lots of choice when it comes to where they decide to play poker games online.
The Spread of Online Gambling Expansion
Michigan has a population of 10 million people (3.1% of the American population), which means that 21.3% of Americans will now have access to legalized and regulated online casino games. It is the seventh state in 2019 to regulate its gaming market, which shows that there is a growing demand for online access to gambling activities. So, 2020 could see even more states expanding their gambling markets in order to satisfy residents’ desire to play casino games online.
