Pennsylvania is now officially the sixth state to enter into the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) for poker, as Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the pact to make it happen Wednesday.

The Commonwealth joins New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, West Virginia, and Michigan in the MSIGA. Pennsylvania is the largest state, by population, to join. The agreement now covers 38 million Americans.

“This is a commonsense step to support hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, grow our economy, and bring in more revenue to support our schools, our seniors, our small businesses, and more,” Shapiro said in a press release. “Three of our neighbors are already part of this agreement — and with this action today, we’re making sure Pennsylvania remains competitive in a rapidly growing online market.”

Monday, April 28 will the be the official launch day, and at least one company will be ready to deal that day, as BetMGM (and its sister site, PA Borgata Online) will be merging Pennsylvania players with Michigan and New Jersey players at 9 a.m.

More games, bigger tournaments

“Pennsylvania represents the largest state to join the shared player pool and turbocharges our poker platform,” Angus Nisbet, BetMGM vice president of gaming, said in a press release. “This expanded player pool will allow us to deliver more games and bigger tournaments to our players. BetMGM Poker is ready to celebrate the growth of our shared liquidity network throughout the spring and summer in a variety of ways.” 

BetMGM will be hosting a special promotional tournament, a $0 buy-in/$35,000 guaranteed tourney that starts at 7:05 p.m. next Tuesday, April 29. Payouts include cash and a $5,000 package to the BetMGM Poker Championship at Aria this summer.

Additionally, the BetMGM May Millions will be the biggest weekend series in the history of BetMGM Poker, according to the release. The $1 million guaranteed series runs from May 8-11 and features 18 total events, including a $2,500 super high roller and a $1,000 championship with a $400,000 guarantee.

“It’s been amazing being part of the tremendous growth of BetMGM poker throughout the years,” BetMGM Poker ambassador and record four-time World Poker Tour winner Darren Elias said. “Adding a large market like Pennsylvania is a huge milestone in continued expansion and provides the opportunity to compete against more players and for larger prize pools. I used to call Pennsylvania home, and it played an important part in my early poker career. I can’t wait to log in and get in the mix.” 

PokerStars and WSOP.com have yet to officially announce when they will open up interstate play for Pennsylvania residents.

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