State of Mississippi Moves Towards Legal Poker
Mississippi State Representative Moat introduced the "Mississippi Lawful Internet Gaming Act of 2012" on Wednesday, as the movement towards legal intra-state poker in the US gathers pace. The bill proposes "an effective state regulatory and licensing system [that will] ensure that the games offered through the Internet are fair and safe [and] stop sending much-needed jobs and tax and fee revenue overseas to illegal operators".
As federal legislation on internet poker looks increasingly unlikely to see the light of day in 2012, Mississippi follows Iowa and Nevada in proposing its own legal exception to the UIGEA, the act that effectively ended the internet poker boom in the US. It is not yet clear how individually state-licensed poker rooms would address issues like player liquidity should players only be able to compete against others in the same jurisdiction. PokerUpdate will be watching developments closely.
