The queue of states looking to legalize online gambling is growing larger by the day. By all accounts, 2017 is going to be the year the number of states with legalized online gaming will increase. According to industry analysts Chris Grove and Adam Krejcik of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, at least one, and perhaps as many as three states will legalize online gaming in 2017. No state has authorized iGaming since 2013. The prediction was part of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming’s U.S. iGaming Industry Update – 2017. When it comes to continued online gaming legalization in the United States, everything…

Indiana became the second state with a law formally legalizing daily fantasy sports after Gov. Mike Pence signed Senate Bill 339 on Thursday. Earlier this month, Virginia became the first state to pass such a law. States have taken vastly different approaches as they try to clarify the murky legality of the games. New York’s attorney general has declared them illegal and the industry’s two largest companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, agreed this week to stop taking bets in the state. In Maryland, a bill would put the question to voters in a November referendum. The Indiana law sets a minimum…

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe just signed into law the “Fantasy Contests Act,” which is a legal framework for fantasy sports providers that operate in the state. The bill, which was approved by the Virginia legislature a few weeks ago, makes Virginia the first state in the nation to impose state-led oversight of the industry. The state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service will be the state entity that oversees the industry. The bill will require fantasy sports sites to pay the state a $50,000 registration fee, and implement policies to verify that all participants are 18 years of age or older. It also requires player…

Chris Krafcik of GamblingCompliance recently testified in front of the California Assembly Governmental Organization Committee on the current and future state of legal online gaming in the United States. The presentation by Krafcik, GC’s research director, included several predictions about legalized online gaming in the U.S. Krafcik called the current efforts in Pennsylvania, California and New York “Wave 2″ of online gaming expansion in the U.S., which he characterizes as the time period from now until 2017. Krafcik went on to name four potential contenders (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, and Ohio) for what he is calling Wave 3, the period between 2018 and…

CNN – While Japan’s economy continues to falter, lawmakers are betting big that the casino industry can swoop in and lift it out of the doldrums. Gambling is currently illegal in Japan, though many play pachinko, a quintessentially Japanese game often likened to pinball. While cash prizes are forbidden, many pachinko parlors work on a gray economy where prizes are exchanged — off-premises — for hard currency. This week, a major conference focusing on the future of the industry opened in Tokyo. It comes at a time when key legislation is being pushed through Japan’s parliament that could pave the…

US Poker – Those looking forward to legalized iGaming in Massachusetts will have to wait until next year. Bluff Magazine reported earlier today that plans for online gambling expansion have been put on hold for now but the matter is drawing serious attention. James McHugh, one of the Commissioners from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission spoke recently at the USA Online Gambling Forum in Atlantic City. It was there that he revealed the state of current online gambling legislation. IGaming Player shared his revelation via Twitter. This recent admission is a stark contrast of his opinions just one moth ago during…