The West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act now awaits Governor Jim Justice’s signature. Sponsored by state Del. Jason Barrett, the measure would allow online and mobile casino gambling. It passed the House 72-22 in February and the Senate 26-7 last week. Barrett commented, “I’m not surprised that we got it passed. I’m surprised that it sailed through as easily as it did.” He added online poker and blackjack most likely will be the most popular games; the state’s five casinos will determine the specific choices available to players.
The legislation gives the West Virginia Lottery until June 2020 to finalize initial rules for licensing and regulating online gaming. Online gaming could begin by late 2020 at the earliest as a result. Barrett said the Lottery requested the additional time for implementation. “I wanted to make sure that it was something they were agreeable to and comfortable with so, for that reason, I don’t anticipate a veto from Governor Justice. We kind of brought everybody to the table to make sure operators were on board, to make sure the Lottery was on board and that we could get the votes in the Legislature as well,” Barrett added.
Justice owns the Greenbrier casino in the state and may let the bill become law without his signature, as he did with the recently passed sports betting bill.
Barrett said a main motivation to introduce the measure was the unregulated illegal gambling market. “Right now, online poker is illegal and it’s being done overseas and there are certainly some concerns there with the integrity of the games as well as making sure players are paid because it’s currently completely unregulated being offshore,” he said.
Under the legislation, players must be 21 years or older and located within the state lines. Operators will pay $250,000 for a license, renewable every five years for $100,000. Licenses for platform and service management will cost $100,000 and supplier licenses will be $10,000. Online gambling revenue will be taxed at 15 percent. Projections estimated first-year tax revenue at $3.9 million.
