Perhaps Covid-19 can make it easier to legalize online poker:

[gr8zackattack]

I predict that online poker will become much more popular over the next year. The reasons for this are obvious. Hopefully our lawmakers will legalize online poker in many more states as they realize that it is safer for people to be able to play in the safety of their homes, without physical human interaction and without the need to touch the chips and the cards.

 

[TheNutz4You]

Michigan legalized online poker and sportbetting/gambling just prior to the covid19 pandemic hitting. Not sure how long it will be now before they roll it out and have games running, but it's now officially on the books.

 

[antonis32123]

No man , unfortunatelly nop Even if most casinos remain closed for one more year , or even more , even if things go worse , and they'll be forced to bring back some isolation measures insome countries , closing again casinos that opened only temporary , leaving online casinos and online poker rooms for the players in all the world, still they wouldn't legalise online poker .

Land based casinos' owners are very powerfull , in everycountry , especially in the US . They want to keep on earning so much money , control this business . They wouldn't allow a overseas multinational company , to come and overthrown them and their businesses . Also governments , their puppets , want to keep on blackmailing these companies , putting obstacles everytime in their frree business activity : Fines , fees , measures , laws , excuses everytime .

So now they like online poker ?? They pretend they don't see these activities , especially if they used to hunt online poker rooms in the passt , especially if online poker is not regulated in their country . But when this crisis is over , they will start again the witch hunt

 

[Daniel72]

I doubt it, because it seems that online poker is simply not important for politicians. They dont know anything about it in most cases and online gambling has in these circles a bad reputation, if anything.

 

[lcid86]

If land-based casinos are forced to close poker rooms, I believe/hope they will abandon their opposition to the online rooms (and maybe buy a stake). If they can find a way to make money, they will. Imagine the number of entrants if the wsop was online using Zoom for table seating?

 

[theRaven68]

I think that wont be the case even if more authorities legalize online poker and golden years of online poker are the past tense

 

[DS3]

First, the recent boom in online poker will level out if not decline. Either people will go back to work and have less time...or not go back to work and have less and less cash.

Secondly, as antonis32123 pointed out, bricks and mortar casinos are powerful.

Sheldon Adleson who has the Sands and Venetian Las Vegas, Sands Macau and Marina Bay Singapore etc. is worth close to 40 billion and is perhaps the largest single contributor to Trump and the Republican party (hundreds of millions donated).

In 2013 with a broad coalition he instigated a campaign to fight the legalization of online poker. He has kept a staff of lawyers (as many as 24) working exclusively on blocking the advance of online poker in any guise in any state in the US of A.

He is credited with directly influencing the Department of Justice's rulings.

The only way forward seems to be with momentum...i.e. the total number of states who have passed online poker puts pressure on others to open their states, but it will be an uphill struggle and be a long drawn out affair.

The ridiculous issue being, as I noted the other day, the financial projection for tax revenues in California if online poker was legalized would be around $850 million per year.

But, do not kid yourself, all the vested interests one way and another have known these statistics/projections for years but so far the political right, the religious right and Adelson's coalition have held sway.