Maryland poker players' hopes that its state would join the slowly growing list of US states to approve and regulate online poker sites have ended after the state's Senate has declined to consider a proposed referendum that would have put the option to legalize online casino-style gambling before voters in November.
The referendum-seeking measure offered by State Senator Ron Watson for consideration expired on Monday without action in a Senate committee. Watson, a backer of legalized iGaming in Maryland, had shifted his focus to a possible referendum after talks with fellow senators showed insufficient support to move an online-casino bill that was passed by the state's House earlier in March.
Though the online-casino bill, House Bill 1319, passed with ease in the state legislature's lower chamber, it encountered far more opposition in the Senate, including complaints from live-casino workers that online iGaming would cannibalize their jobs. Despite research showing online-casino offerings to be complimentary rather than cannibalistic, the fear-based complaint invariably surfaces in the debate for legalization whenever an online-casino bill is proposed anywhere in the US.
Maryland iCasino approval must wait until at least 2026
Legislative rules in Maryland mean that the state will not have legalized and regulated online poker or other casino-style games until 2026 at the earliest. Legislation can be proposed at any time, but any change to the state's gambling laws requires a constitutional amendment, and that, in turn, requires voter approval.
