The Washigton D.C. Lottery will soon be offering online poker and fantasy sportsbetting.
The proposal was presented by at-large Democratic Councilman Michael A. Brown who incuded online gambling in a larger bill intended to help shut a $188 million gap in the D.C. budget. Brown expects the newly expanded lottery program to raise around $13 million over the course of the next 3 years.
The District of Columbia lottery, according to the bill, we be the body that decides which sporting events and online poker games will be open for betting, under this proposal. Of course there would be tight regulation over the games, ensuring all participants are over 18 years old. In order to guarantee, as well, that these games would be restricted to D.C. residents only, Brown said they would have to create specialized computer networks.
Brown estimates this move would raise about $13 million for D.C. over a period of the next 4 years. As points of comparison for advocating expanding the lottery program to include sports betting and online poker as ways to increase badly needed state revenues, the first month of operation for Perryville's Hollywood Casino in October raked in $11.4 million and two months prior, in August, the Hollywood Casino's new tables in Charles Town, West Virginia saw $9.75 million for their first full month in operation.
The measure passed the council vote on December 7 by a vote of 11-2, approving the amendment for inclusion in the D.C. lottery's charter and paving the way for legal online poker in Washington D.C., the seat of the U.S. government.
