Bill filed to legalise igaming in Indiana

Indiana is looking to follow in the footsteps of Pennsylvania and take advantage of extra revenues from legal igaming and poker.

US.- A senator in Indiana has filed a bill that seeks to legalise igaming and poker on the heels of the huge revenues that state saw generated by sports betting in 2020.

State senator Jon Ford’s bill is the latest gambling expansion project in the state since lawmakers legalised sports betting two years ago.

In an interview with Casino.org, Ford said igaming and poker legislation was a “natural progression” for Indiana.

He said: “The language in this bill is very, very similar to sports wagering, and many of the back office mechanisms in place for consumer protection, we already have in place for sports wagering. So, really, a lot of the infrastructure’s already there.”

The state’s sports betting handle in December broke previous monthly records and took the total handle for 2020 to over $1bn.

According to PlayIndiana analyst, Dustin Gouker: “In the states where both [igaming and poker] are legal, online casinos games tend to dwarf sports betting in terms of both revenue and the money wagered.

“More is bet every month, and the win is more predictable with far fewer fluctuations from month to month. For a state like Indiana, such a dependable revenue source is unquestionably attractive.”

In Pennsylvania’s legal market, bettors spent $2.2bn on online casino games and poker in November, generating $59.8m in operator revenue while sports betting produced gross gaming revenue of $37.35m.