Kentucky iGaming Bill & $50M Problem Gambling Fund are Dead
Legal online poker and sports betting will not be coming to Kentucky in 2022.
Last week, a bill that would have created a problem gambling initiative in Kentucky, funded by $50 million from a $300 million settlement with PokerStars, failed to pass through the committee.
Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of PokerStars, agreed last September that they would pay the state $300 million to settle an 11-year dispute over-responsible gambling issues over online gambling that took place between 2006 and 2011.
What the $50 million earmarked for the problem gambling initiative will now be spent on instead remains to be seen, but it likely will go into the state’s general fund.
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A bill that would have legalized online poker and sports betting in Kentucky also failed to make it out of committee.
“I’m disappointed. I am for sports betting. I want to make it clear that I did everything I could to get it passed, but I can’t force people to vote 'yes’ on something that they are opposed to,” Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown) said last week.
Learn more about the Kentucky online poker and sports betting bill over on pokerfuse.
