West Virginia has become the fifth state to join the multi-state online poker compact after signing on to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement.
The West Virginia Lottery Commission and the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association announced the agreement earlier this week on November 14. West Virginia joins Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey and Michigan in the online poker compact.
The agreement allows West Virginia to share the state’s online poker player pools with those of the other member states, allowing players in those states to compete against each other at the same table for the same money and prizes.
“I am pleased that our West Virginia iGaming providers will now have the opportunity to offer multi-state poker to our players,” said West Virginia Lottery Director John Myers in a press release. “This will greatly increase the potential pool of participants and thus allow our players to play for bigger winnings.”
Before West Virginia residents can begin playing online poker against players from other states an online poker site will need to launch in the state. Online gaming, including online poker was legalized in the state in 2019. However, due to the state’s small population no online poker site has launched in the state. That is expected to change now that the state has entered in the multi-state compact.
Any online poker operators in West Virginia interested in offering multi-state poker to the players in the state will be required to submit a letter of intent to the West Virginia Lottery Commission and receive necessary approvals before launching multi-state tables.