The Buckeye State is the seventh most populated region in the USA and has one of the largest player pools in the nation. Currently, local gamblers aged 21 and up can partake in sports betting (online, in-person, mobile), real money casino games (in-person), and hands of poker (in-person).
Online poker in Ohio is now being considered following the introduction of Senate Bill 312 in the OH Senate. If passed and approved by Governor Mike DeWine, Ohio would become the seventh state to regulate online poker and the ninth to permit iGaming.
So far, the six US states that regulate online poker are as follows:
- Delaware
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia are part of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which allows them to share poker player pools. This is helpful in states like DE and WV that don’t feature massive populations.
If Ohio joined the MSIGA, it would be the most prominent player pool among the participating states.
Niraj Antani, an Ohio Senator from District 6 (Dayton), is sponsoring SB 312, which proposes tethering the activity to four local casinos.
The tax rate for sports betting in Ohio is 20%, but SB312 suggests a rate of 15% for online gambling. The lower rate is due to the profitability of sports wagering compared to casino gambling.
On average, sportsbooks collect only a small portion of profits based on the juice they build into the odds. Casino games are more profitable than sportsbook operations. Most games feature randomly generated results with low probabilities for success.
Since poker is a game of skill and offers direct competition against other players, houses are only able to profit by scraping the pots. While not as profitable as casino games, poker consistently delivers revenue and is not subject to shortfalls like sports betting is.
For that reason, the bill language has left the door open for regulating online casinos in Ohio. This practice is also known as iGaming, and the bill leaves it up to the Ohio Casino Control Commission to decide which types of games are allowed to be played for real money over the web and on mobile devices.
“I think you’re going to see poker, you’re going to see roulette, you’re going to see slot machines, things like that… Blackjack, any sort of card game, table game, you’ll see allowed. That’s the idea here.”
OH Senator Niraj Antani, Bill Sponsor
The Ohio House has yet to produce a companion bill, and Senate Bill 312 has not been scheduled in any committees. The Ohio General Assembly is set to sine die on December 31, 2024.