Governor Phil Scott recently address both the House and Senate, where he said Vermont online sports betting should be a part of his $6.3 billion 2020 state budget proposal. “Our demographic crisis is — without question — the greatest challenge we face as a state, “Scott said, repeating his oft-stated warning. “Addressing this reality is crucial to Vermont’s future.” As reported by Seven Days, the governor’s proposed budget would not raise any existing taxes or fees, but it would create two new ones: Scott pitched legalizing and taxing online sports betting, as neighboring New Hampshire recently did, and he called…

Well, that didn’t take long. Barely three weeks into the new year and word has already come that New York mobile sports betting will not be happening in 2020. The states budget for the next fiscal year, starting in April, will not extend sports betting outside the confines of upstate casinos. Although Senator Joseph Addabbo has made repeated efforts to legalize online and mobile sports betting and called for their inclusion in the 2020-21 budget, Governor Andrew Cuomo opted not to include these components. Instead, the bill will allow for casinos to take bets throughout their premises, but not from…

Nebraska online poker is set to regulated if the new “Games Of Skill” Act passes through the state legislature. The Act would legalize certain games of skill such as sports betting, daily fantasy sports, and poker. The “maybe” of online poker is due to the bill not specifically mentioning the internet at all. But the office for the bill’s sponsor said the intention is to include online gaming. The bill doesn’t categorize all poker games as games of skill, but does define skill-based games as “draw poker” games like five-card draw and “community card” games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha….

The approach of Colorado sports betting has seen more than 50 license applications since November, which could pose a problem since the state only plans to issue 33 licenses total for physical and online sports books. Voters narrowly passed  the sports gambling measure to regulate the activity in November. The first licensees are expected to be approved in February, though they won’t be able to take bets until Colorado’s new sports gambling law goes into effect on May 1. Casinos will be taxed 10% on net proceeds, which will primarily be funneled to Colorado’s water plan. The state expects to…

As part of their overall plan to grow their American presence, a DraftKings Las Vegas office has opened. The fantasy and sports betting operator Las Vegas facility will host about 300 employees, including customer support, fraud, casino, sports book traders, human resource and IT personnel. The move comes after DraftKings last month agreed a deal to be acquired by a special purpose acquisition company alongside betting and gaming technology provider SBTech. As part of this transaction, the business agreed be reincorporated in Nevada. Since October 2018, DraftKings said it has seen a 40% increase in its overall employee headcount, while…

A bill to regulate Kentucky sports betting has passed through a state House committee with an 18-0 vote and has excellent odds to clear the full chamber. House Bill 137 would establish a framework in the state to legally bet on sport events and play online poker and fantasy sports. Twenty states have now legalized sports betting. Kentucky sports betting bill sponsor Rep. Adam Koenig pointed out that the state is “largely surrounded” by states that have already taken that step to tap into some of the estimated $150 billion of illegal sports wagering in the country each year. “It…

State lawmakers held a preliminary hearing on California sports betting last week. They are just the latest state to consider regulating the activity in 2020, meaning that more than half of the states could have regulated sports betting soon. California is one of nine states exploring legalized sports betting in 2020, according to the American Gaming Association. A total of 20 states have legalized some form of sports betting since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban in May 2018. “We will likely approach a total of 30 states with some form of legal sports betting by the…

A bill to regulate Maine sports betting was vetoed Friday by Governor Janet Mills. State Senator Louis Luchini had sponsored the bill and was disappointed by the veto. He was in San Diego on Friday at a conference for states with gambling and said Mills called to inform him of her decision shortly before she made it public. The bill, one of three Mills vetoed, was among 40 she had held since the end of the last lawmaking session in June, saying they had technical issues or needed additional work. The Legislature recalled 13 of the bills on Wednesday –…