Poker in West Virginia

Poker in West Virginia

West Virginia, a small state in the Appalachians, has been making headlines in the US domestic poker mainstream press as of late. That’s because they joined Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania in legalizing online poker in February of 2019. There is currently no online poker in West Virginia and for its residents. It wasn’t until July 2020 that a legal online gambling site, DraftKings Casino, became available to residents of the state. Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races is helping them out because only West Virginia casinos with physical locations can apply for online gambling licenses.

In contrast to popular belief, DraftKings does not support online poker. Nor does BetMGM WV, the other fully functional online casino (who are partnered with The Greenbrier). If West Virginians want to play online poker at all, it won’t be until the middle of 2021 at the earliest.

According to the media conglomerate, the live poker world record was set in West Virginia. According to Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, the longest poker game in history took place at the Dunglen Hotel in Thurmond, West Virginia and lasted a total of 14 years. Once a bustling coal mining hub, today, only five people call this historic townhome. It opened in 1901, but arsonists destroyed the Dunglen Hotel in 1930.

Quick Summary

• With a total of 762,062 people, the population is at its highest ever.
• Bismarck, the capital.
• Dollars (USD) are the currency in use.
• Location: UTC+6
• North Dakota Abbreviation is ND.

Where You Can Play Poker in West Virginia Casinos:

Famous Poker Players from West Virginia

Weston, West Virginia, is the place of Jason Koon’s birth. He has earned a total of $31.1 million from live tournament cashes, making him one of the most successful high rollers in history. Obviously, he is the wealthiest person in the history of Hendon, West Virginia.

He won the Triton HK$1,000,000 Short Deck Hold’em tournament in Montenegro in May of 2018. At $3.580 million, it is the largest sum he has ever won in a single live tournament. He has also played in high-stakes cash games broadcast live on PokerGO’s Poker After Dark and Triton Poker.

Second on the list is William Lee Childs Jr., who made $1.528 million over the course of his career. His most notable accomplishment is finishing in the money (seventh) at the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, earning him $705,229.

Laws Pertaining to Live & Online Poker Games in West Virginia

Land-based gambling in West Virginia is governed by Chapter 29, Article 25 of the state’s current code. The title of the article is “Authorization of limited Gaming Facility; Findings and Intent.” The West Virginia Lottery Commission issues licenses and regulates the industry.

Since 2007, the state has allowed land-based casinos. Bets on the horse and greyhound races became legitimate in 1931, but the history of legal gambling goes back even further.

Gambling Halls in West Virginia with Live Poker

There are seven legal casinos in West Virginia, according to worldcasinodirectory.com. Five of them offer poker rooms, per the website.

There is always action in the poker room at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in Charles Town, West Virginia. For real money play, you can choose from No Limit Hold’em, Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, and Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better in their cash room. Despite this, the website does not detail the associated stakes for any of these games; players and staff can negotiate the terms of any wagers on the spot.

Also, from 2013 to 2016, they were in charge of hosting the Hollywood Poker Open. There were no-limit hold’em, pot-limit Omaha, and pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better tournaments with entry fees ranging from $125 to the $1,115 Main Event.

The Mardi Gras Casino & Resort in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, and The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, both have poker rooms where you can play $2/$5 NLHE cash and a weekly $250 NLHE tournament on Saturdays.

Online Poker in West Virginia

You can find most of the background information you need in the introduction.

Both the House of Delegates and the Senate of West Virginia passed the West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act in March 2019, legalizing online poker and other forms of gambling for residents of the state. To apply for a license to offer online gambling, however, a physical casino within the state is required by law.

Currently, two casinos in West Virginia have online gambling partnerships, but neither offers poker.

Now we’ve run into a problem. When compared to other casino games, online poker brings in significantly less money for the operator. Even with reliable partners, West Virginia’s small population of 1.8 million makes the state’s online poker market unattractive to casinos.

If West Virginia were to join the interstate shared market already established by Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware, this problem would be solved (Michigan has also passed legislation to join). More paperwork and planning must be done for this to happen legally. There is hope that it can be completed by the end of 2021, according to the most optimistic forecasts.

Players in West Virginia are currently in a legal gray area; the state has passed legislation legalizing online poker, but no providers are yet ready to accept customers from the state. So don’t lose hope yet. Even if you can’t play lawfully in your favorite poker clubs in Pokerrrr2, you can access unregulated sites through the use of a VPN.