2016 Witnessed Boom in US Live Poker Industry

Written by: Tight Poker Staff January 2, 2017 Affiliate Disclaimer

Please note that some links on tightpoker.com are affiliate links. We may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you click through our links and make a purchase from one of our partners.

The year 2016 turned out to be the third consecutive year in which no additional US states legalized and regulated online poker. In other words, Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada have been the only states with legalized online poker and online casino gaming for the past three years.

But despite this fact, a number of Vegas style brick-and-mortar casinos with live poker rooms have cropped up. As a result of this, US poker players can now choose from close to 5800 poker tables distributed among over 500 live poker rooms. Casino revenue has continued to rise and attendance at live poker tournaments has continued to remain steady as the game of poker expanded slightly in the land-based gambling industry.

Click Here For Sites Still Accepting USA Player

Now that Donald Trump has been elected, the online casino gaming industry is worried that Sheldon Adelson will soon have his way and get online casinos banned throughout the country. According to Adelson, online casinos will cannibalize America’s existing brick-and-mortar casinos, which are worth $70 billion per year. If the online casino industry is not banned, it could become worth $4 billion in another three years.

US poker players are unhappy that California, America’s biggest Native Indian gambling market, has not legalized online poker in 2016. Pennsylvania was about to legalize its online casino gaming industry last year, but failed to do so. Although Michigan has an opportunity to legalize online casinos, hardly any progress was made in December. Massachusetts launched a study of the online casino gaming industry in October and created a Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming, and Daily Fantasy Sports for the same. Ever since 2013, New York has been making attempts to legalize and regulate online poker, but its online poker bill has never got the required support.

Currently, as many as 40 US states have land-based casinos. This is because states are eager to stop tax money from enriching other states. Northeast America has more racinos and casinos that any other part of the country and more are in the process of being constructed.

Early in December, Maryland received its sixth casino in the form of the MGM National Harbor, worth $1.4 billion. It includes a poker room with 39 tables. In Massachusetts, the Wynn Boston Harbor and the MGM Springfield got the green signal to move ahead. While the former is scheduled to be launched in the middle of 2019, the latter will be inaugurated in September 2018.