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online poker and casino gambling might be coming to West Virginia sooner than expected.
The WV Lottery Commission last week approved a set of emergency rules for iGaming which it will file with the Secretary of State later this month. Director John Myers told iGB that the rules pave the way for a quicker launch than originally intended.
It’s now possible that WV online gambling could go live soon as July.
With the emergency rules, the Lottery will be able to grant interim licenses allowing companies to begin operations almost immediately. These are good for up to 270 days, during which the Commission will conduct a thorough review and, if all is as it should, issue a full license.
The Secretary has 42 days to approve or reject the emergency rules after they’re filed.
Accelerated timeline for WV online gambling
In this context, “emergency” simply refers to the fact that the rules are a temporary measure to expedite launch. The state’s online gambling law, which passed last year, instructs the Lottery to produce a set of emergency rules before July.
That said, the actual emergency created by the COVID-19 outbreak has likely induced the state to hurry things even further.
The initial expectation was that a July deadline for emergency rules would lead to a launch in late 2020 or early 2021. Public demand for online gambling is peaking at the moment, however, with most brick-and-mortar casinos still closed. States with legal online casinos/poker are seeing traffic surge as a result.
The emergency rules are good for up to 15 months, during which time the legislature must approve the permanent rules.
Live-dealer “simulcast” tables a possibility
The emergency rules, obtained by WV MetroNews, provide fairly liberal authorization for most forms of online gambling. For the most part, they cover operators’ responsibilities for things such as:
Customer data and privacy
Cybersecurity
Geolocation technology, physical location of site servers, etc.
Compliance and communication with the regulator
Game integrity
Segregation of funds
There is one aspect of the rules that will be of particular interest to casino gamblers, however: provisions for live-dealer games. The rules refer to these as “simulcast tables.”
Until now, it was unclear whether this recently popularized form of online gambling would be available in West Virginia. The rules do indeed allow for such games, but operators will need special permission from the Lottery before offering them.
That doesn’t necessarily meant that any operators will offer them, though.
Live-dealer games require a special studio setup, and the small size of the WV market might make the concept unprofitable. The rules additionally stipulate that all such primary gambling equipment must be physically located in the state.
Possibilities for WV online poker
Even more interesting are some of the provisions for peer-to-peer and multiplayer gaming, which essentially means online poker.
Most significantly, the rules require the availability of randomized seating. Sites can offer tables with manual seat selection, of course, but only as a separate option. Every site must allow players the option to be seated at random against opponents who were also seated at random.
This has been the trend in the international online poker market, but it’s not universal. The options for seat selection — or lack thereof — vary from site to site, so it’s interesting that West Virginia would mandate randomized seating.
online poker and casino gambling might be coming to West Virginia sooner than expected.
The WV Lottery Commission last week approved a set of emergency rules for iGaming which it will file with the Secretary of State later this month. Director John Myers told iGB that the rules pave the way for a quicker launch than originally intended.
It’s now possible that WV online gambling could go live soon as July.
With the emergency rules, the Lottery will be able to grant interim licenses allowing companies to begin operations almost immediately. These are good for up to 270 days, during which the Commission will conduct a thorough review and, if all is as it should, issue a full license.
The Secretary has 42 days to approve or reject the emergency rules after they’re filed.
Accelerated timeline for WV online gambling
In this context, “emergency” simply refers to the fact that the rules are a temporary measure to expedite launch. The state’s online gambling law, which passed last year, instructs the Lottery to produce a set of emergency rules before July.
That said, the actual emergency created by the COVID-19 outbreak has likely induced the state to hurry things even further.
The initial expectation was that a July deadline for emergency rules would lead to a launch in late 2020 or early 2021. Public demand for online gambling is peaking at the moment, however, with most brick-and-mortar casinos still closed. States with legal online casinos/poker are seeing traffic surge as a result.
The emergency rules are good for up to 15 months, during which time the legislature must approve the permanent rules.
Live-dealer “simulcast” tables a possibility
The emergency rules, obtained by WV MetroNews, provide fairly liberal authorization for most forms of online gambling. For the most part, they cover operators’ responsibilities for things such as:
Customer data and privacy
Cybersecurity
Geolocation technology, physical location of site servers, etc.
Compliance and communication with the regulator
Game integrity
Segregation of funds
There is one aspect of the rules that will be of particular interest to casino gamblers, however: provisions for live-dealer games. The rules refer to these as “simulcast tables.”
Until now, it was unclear whether this recently popularized form of online gambling would be available in West Virginia. The rules do indeed allow for such games, but operators will need special permission from the Lottery before offering them.
That doesn’t necessarily meant that any operators will offer them, though.
Live-dealer games require a special studio setup, and the small size of the WV market might make the concept unprofitable. The rules additionally stipulate that all such primary gambling equipment must be physically located in the state.
Possibilities for WV online poker
Even more interesting are some of the provisions for peer-to-peer and multiplayer gaming, which essentially means online poker.
Most significantly, the rules require the availability of randomized seating. Sites can offer tables with manual seat selection, of course, but only as a separate option. Every site must allow players the option to be seated at random against opponents who were also seated at random.
This has been the trend in the international online poker market, but it’s not universal. The options for seat selection — or lack thereof — vary from site to site, so it’s interesting that West Virginia would mandate randomized seating.
