Michigan can change its online casino and poker regulation

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act may be replaced for a legal online gaming regulation.

US.- Michigan could become the fourth state to legalise online poker and casino sites, joining the list with Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. Last Friday, Mike Kowall –state’s senator– introduced to the congress the Lawful Internet Gaming Act –SB 889–, which seeks to control and to regulate online gaming activities in the state.

The highlighted parts of the proposed act are the prohibited access to players under 21, 8 new licenses offered for Michigan-based casinos and tribal casinos, the licensing fee of US$5 million as an advance payment against future taxes owed including an upfront non-refundable US$100,000 fee and the 10 percent of taxes for gross gaming revenue. The new regulation aims to “protect residents of this state who wager on games of chance and skill through the internet and to capture revenues and create jobs generated from internet gaming.”

“Notwithstanding anything else in this act, a wager may be accepted from an individual who is not physically present in this state if the division determines that the wager is not inconsistent with federal law or the law of the jurisdiction, including any foreign nation, in which the individual is located or that the wagering is conducted under a multijurisdictional agreement to which this state is a party that is not inconsistent with federal law,” says the Act. Online sports betting was left out of the bill.