Massachusetts is bringing legal sports betting to the state! Residents of the Bay State can begin placing bets in retail locations on January 31st. There is no set date for the launch of online sports betting, but it will be soon. Online casino gambling will be approved soon. What about online poker, then?
Answer to both questions: There is no progress being made towards either approval at this time. In the United States, the standard is to legalize sports betting first and then analyze the implementation before any other approvals. If online casinos are approved, they will be followed by potential online poker 홀덤.
Online poker is legal in only six states. Nevada, Delaware New Jersey, Pennsylvania West Virginia and Michigan are the six states that have legalized online poker. Although it is legal to play in West Virginia, there are no poker sites operating. The five other states, excluding Pennsylvania, have signed the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. This allows players from those states to play online with other players. West Virginia is not large enough to support online poker. They need to join MSIGA, or perhaps another compact with Pennsylvania. Massachusetts is larger than West Virginia but not enough to support a vibrant poker community online. They will need to join a compact somewhere.
Will there be poker after legal Massachusetts online sportsbooks?
Online sports betting will soon be legalized in the Bay State. Massachusetts Sportsbooks all offer generous welcome bonus, and often free bet insurance for the first bet. Sign up, make a deposit, and place your wager. You can collect your winnings if it wins! If the bet loses, sportsbooks will compensate the loss by offering risk-free bets of the same value as the original bet. There is usually no limit, but it can be as high as $1000. Some sportsbooks offer $200 in free bets for signing up and depositing $10 or less, with a wager of just $1. Check the terms in both cases, as some sportsbooks have an expiration date on free bets or may distribute them in a tier system.
On August 10, 2022, Governor Charlie Baker signed into law the Massachusetts Sports Wagering Act, paving the way for legalized betting. The law H5164 provides for 15 licenses to bet on sports. Eight of these licenses are for retail outlets such as racetracks or casinos. There are two casinos that offer full service in Massachusetts, MGM Springfield and Wynn’s Encore Boston Harbor. Penn Gaming's Plainridge Park Casino offers only slots.
Online operators are invited to bid for the remaining seven sports betting licences. Massachusetts Gaming Commission received 39 applications by the deadline of October 17, 2022. Barstool Sportsbook was approved by the MGC for online betting. It joins BetMGM and WynnBet in this accomplishment. DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM already have DFS in the Bay State. They will likely join the fray via the three other online sites or through a partnership.
Other Sports Betting Laws
The Massachusetts Sports Wagering Act contains many other provisions. Bay State residents are not allowed to wager on teams from their own state, except for when they're in tournaments. Boston College, the only Power 5 team in the Bay State, is unlikely to make the College Football Playoff anytime soon even after the expansion to 12 teams. BC and other hoops can always make March Madness but they are unlikely to attract huge betting handle on their games. Massachusetts is a sports-loving state.
Sportsbooks offer a variety of options for funding accounts. However, credit cards are not allowed by law. There will be many options for funding accounts, including bank transfers, PayPal and Play+ prepaid cards, as well as E-wallet sites such Skrill, and e-checks.
Massachusetts will tax online sports betting operators 20%, and retail sportsbooks 15%. State will tax individual gambling wins at the same rate that residents pay for ordinary incomes.
What to Bet on
Bay State residents are allowed to bet on any sports listed in the usual sportsbooks, except for college sports.
Boston will be the Winter Sports Capital of the World in 2023. The Bruins are leading the NHL while the Celtics lead the NBA. The "B's", who are the Stanley Cup favorites, are priced at +500 on DraftKings.com. Meanwhile, the "C's", the top dogs in the NBA standings at +380 at DraftKings.com.
All regular season games and future playoffs will have prop markets, deep spreads, money lines, puck lines, and totals.
It is not expected that the Red Sox will have a great season in 2023. However, in 2021 they had a very similar story and made it to the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox are currently priced at +7000 for the World Series win, +3000 for the American League title and +1600 to win the AL East.
The Patriots, too, are in a slight downswing. But NFL betting is booming no matter what the quality of team. Pats markets remain popular. Tom Brady will not be in the room ....likely, even though he's a free agent.
Massachusetts is unlikely to legalize online casinos or poker in 2023. It takes time to work out the details, even if a bill is passed and signed by the governor. It took less than half a month from the bill signing date to the betting launch for sports betting. This is much faster than Ohio which took more than a full year. Enjoy and profit from legal sports gambling until then. The smoother the process, the more likely state legislators will look at online poker and casinos to increase revenue.