Captain Gambling: Weekly Industry News Update – 12/20/2020

Welcome to the weekly industry news digest at CaptainGambling.com, where our experts provide you with the latest updates and information regarding betting legislation from across the USA!

This week’s top stories:

• Ohio Sports Betting Bill to Wait Until 2021
• Illinois Becomes 4th largest Betting Market in the US
• Kentucky Wins $1.3 Billion Lawsuit vs PokerStars
• Is legal gambling heading to Georgia?

Ohio

Last week, CaptainGambling reported that the new Ohio sports betting bill was set to go before the committee for review this Wednesday. 

However, the committee meeting on Wednesday has now came and went, with the sports betting proposal not on the initial agenda and ultimately not reaching the floor at all. Given the close proximity to the end of the year, any possibility of sports betting getting the full official green light is now dead in the water. The proposal will likely be pushed through at some point in 2021, it’s just a question of when. 

Illinois

The sports betting handle for Illinois hit $435 million in October, making it the 4th largest betting market in the US today. 

The first legal bet was placed in the Prairie State back in March, just before the Covid-19 pandemic caused mass shutdowns across the country. Since then, Illinois residents have wagered a total of $941 million on sports events. The haul is impressive given that there’s only been 4 full months of betting revenue recorded thus far, as figured for November and December are not yet known. As you’d expect, the house came out on top, winning by approximately $42 million in October. Of that $42 million, $6.3millon was generated in tax revenue for the state.

Kentucky

The state of Kentucky has won a $1.3 billion lawsuit against PokerStras, following a near decade long battle in court. The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in favour of the state on Thursday, reinstating a 2015 ruling from the Franklin Circuit Court. The suit, originally filed in 2010 for $290 million claimed that PokerStars was operating illegalling inside the Bluegrass State, luring in 34,000 residents who allegedly deposited and lost nearly $300 million on the poker site. The state had won the suit back in 2015, however PokerStars successfully appealed in 2018. However, state officials decided to re-appeal and were successful on Thursday this week. 

Georgia

The state of Georgia is renowned for its staunchly anti-gambling stance, as even tribal and commercial casino are not allowed. However it’s though that could change in 2021, as there have already been efforts to legalize sports betting, with the hopes of progressing towards legal online gambling. A recent pol revealed that 70% of Georgians would be in favour of bringing the issue of legalized gambling to the polls - as happened on November 3 in Louisiana, Maryland and South Dakota. Illegal sports betting in Georgia is allegedly worth an estimated $1.5 billion, therefore many government officials are keen to bring such revenue into the state.