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Wyoming Online Poker Laws
It is tough to be a poker player in Wyoming. There are very few live poker rooms in the state. Poker Atlas lists only three: 307 Poker and Outlaw Poker in Laramie, and Garth & Katie’s Place in Riverton. Combined, they offer 12 tables for poker, and only Garth & Katie’s Place runs tournaments.
There are numerous casinos on Native American lands in Wyoming, as tribes like the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes have current gaming compacts with the state to operate gambling establishments. The ones referred to as casinos are the Shoshone Rose Casino Hotel in Lander, Wind River Hotel & Casino in Riverton, and Little Wind Casino in Ethete. The only one that appears to offer any poker at all is Wind River, but at last report, there were only a couple of tables reserved for locals.
That leaves online poker.
Wyoming players have long frequented the online poker tables, from pre-Black Friday times when PokerStars and Full Tilt were the largest poker sites in the world, to today’s sites like BetOnline and Ignition Poker that cater to American players.
Top Sites for Online Poker in Your State
Online Poker in Wyoming
It has the lowest population in America. Not only do the people of Wyoming spread out on privately-owned lands, but the federal government also owns nearly 50% of the land. Despite the low population, Wyoming still contributes a fair share of players to the global online player pool.
The vastness of Wyoming lands makes online poker even more prevalent due to the lack of poker in land-based casinos, with even those being sparse and most not open to opening poker rooms. Poker players in the state often turn to online poker.
Wyoming has a complicated past with gambling laws, and only in the past two decades has the state’s legislature realized the value of legalizing and then regulating gambling. There is now pari-mutuel wagering and online sports betting, on top of the charitable gambling and lottery options. And in 2024, based on a 2020 gambling study commissioned by the state, Wyoming is even considering an online gambling bill.
Wyoming Gambling & Poker Laws Summarized
| Type/Code | Summary |
|---|---|
| State Code Section(s) | 6.7.101-104; 11.25 |
| Definition of Gambling | Risking any property for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device or the happening or outcome of an event, including a sporting event, over which the person taking a risk has no control. |
| Definition of Gambling Device | Any device, machine, paraphernalia or equipment except an antique gambling device that is used or usable in the playing phases of any professional gambling activity, whether that activity consists of gambling between persons or gambling by a person involving the playing of a machine. |
| Definition of Professional Gambling | Aiding or inducing another to engage in gambling, with the intent to derive a profit therefrom; or participating in gambling and having, other than by virtue of skill or luck, a lesser chance of losing or a greater chance of winning than one or more of the other participants. |
| Online Poker/Gambling | No lawmakers had proposed legislation related to legalizing online poker or casino games until 2024. |
| Live Poker | There are a select few poker rooms in the entire state of Wyoming, only one of which is in a casino. |
| Casinos | Two Native American tribes completed gaming compacts with the state to open casinos, of which there are now four. The small establishments offer limited gaming but some have table games in addition to slot machines. |
| Sports Betting | Wyoming lawmakers legalized live and online sports betting in 2021 after failed attempts in 2020. |
| DFS | Fantasy sports isn’t legal or illegal. The 2021 sports betting law specifically designated fantasy sports as “not gambling” so as to leave it open. Several popular fantasy sports companies are live in Wyoming. |
| Other Forms of Gambling | Horse and dog racing, pari-mutuel betting, lottery, Calcutta wagering, bingo and pull-tabs via charitable gambling. |
Online Poker Developments in Wyoming
Few gambling industry analysts predicted that Wyoming would be a state that would consider legalizing online poker and casino games. Considering the longstanding restrictions on gambling and the lack of non-tribal casinos, it didn’t seem as if Wyoming would be open to igaming.
However, the success of sports betting since its legalization in 2021 appears to have changed minds. The first revenue appeared in September 2021 with nearly $1 million in the first month. The market fluctuated frequently, but for most of 2023, revenue topped $1 million every month. October 2023, in fact, set a new record with nearly $2.3 million in revenue. Through the end of 2023, revenue topped $36 million, which added up to more than $2 million in taxes paid.
Lawmakers wanted more of that.
In February 2024, four Republican Representatives in the state legislature introduced an interactive gaming bill. Representative Robert Davis is listed as the primary sponsor of HB120, and Representatives Jon Conrad, Sandy Newsome, and Tom Walters are listed as the cosponsors.
They introduced the bill on February 7, just in time for the start of the legislative session on February 12.
The short version of the bill is:
“An act relating to gaming; authorizing interactive gaming; providing for regulation by the Wyoming Gaming Commission; imposing fees; providing for the collection and distribution of revenues from interactive gaming; providing for a continuous appropriation; requiring rulemaking; providing penalties; and providing for effective dates.”
Some of the most important details include:
- The Wyoming Gaming Commission will create the igaming framework of regulations, investigate permit applicants, and issue permits.
- An igaming company will pay $100K for an initial permit fee, good for five years and renewable for $50,000 for each subsequent five-year period.
- An operator already providing sports betting for Wyoming can pay $2,500 for an initial permit fee to add online casino and poker, good for five years and renewable for $2,500 for each subsequent five-year period.
- The Wyoming Gaming Commission will issue no less than five interactive gaming operator permits.
- Each operator will remit 10% of gaming revenue from the prior month to the Commission.
- Operators will pay the first $300K of each fiscal year’s revenue to the Department of Health to prevent and treat problem gambling.
- Players must be 18 years of age or older.
- Wyoming may enter into “reciprocal agreements” in other jurisdictions, meaning the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, which allows operators to share online poker player pools across state lines.
Much of the bill is standard, but the inclusion of MSIGA permission is helpful, as is the incentive for current online sports betting operators to expand to other forms of igaming with a much-reduced permit fee. The minimum of five operators is unique, which will ensure competition but could be challenging to find five igaming providers who want to set up online casino games and/or online poker in the state with the lowest US population.
As of the introduction of HB.120, it remains to be seen if the proposal will make it to a committee and pass through to hit the floor of the legislature. It might be the first year that Wyoming will consider such a bill, but one year is all it takes.
Based on 2020 Gaming Study
It’s important to note that Wyoming has had a tough history with gambling. Wyoming, as a part of the traditional Old West, with card games as much a part of the state’s history as saloons and betting on horse races.
Card games were not only common but legal in Wyoming until 1901, when the state passed specific anti-gambling laws. In a piece written about the bill of 1901, according to historic records, it noted that Senator Nichols was the sponsor of the bill, one that addressed the “gambling evil” that was considered “by far the worst curse rampant within (Wyoming’s) borders. Nichols was quoted to have said, “Not one of the employees of these gambling places would be received in society of respectable people.”
Of course, gambling continued in many parts of the state, but it almost became legal again in 1935 when the legislature legalized gambling. They deemed the bill necessary to provide regulations and consumer protections to bring gambling out of back rooms and into the light. However, Governor Miller vetoed that bill.
Further, Wyoming Attorney General Ray Lee ordered the immediate enforcement of all gambling prohibitions. Law enforcement officers reported to dozens of counties in the state to confiscate gambling supplies and punish all in charge of said gambling activities.
Of course, the state began to change its tune as the years passed as horse racing betting was common and as Native American tribes won the right to offer gambling on their lands per the federal government’s Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. Slowly, everything from bingo to the state lottery were legalized and regulated.
Then, a legislature-commissioned study published in 2020 opened the Wyoming to further gambling opportunities.
The “Wyoming Gaming Commission Study” examined options from daily fantasy sports to igaming and issued a 41-page report. It noted that igaming – including online poker and casino games – was already operating in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia at the time, with Nevada allowing only for online poker.
The report noted the benefits of a regulated gaming environment, including revenue, consumer protections, player tracking data, and investments in properties, tourism, and jobs. Of course, all of this would also reduce gambling crimes, such as money laundering and organized crime activities.
Ultimately, this report appeared to pave the way for legalized sports betting and skill-based amusement games. It also explained the basis for other gambling expansion, such as igaming. This may have spurred legislators to action, albeit several years after the publication of the study.
Top-Earning Poker Players from Wyoming
As most would suspect, Wyoming is not exactly a hub for professional poker players. There aren’t even many poker rooms available in neighboring states, with the notable exception of a few casinos in Colorado to the south of Wyoming.
Even so, some poker players hailing from Wyoming have impressive amounts of live tournament poker earnings to their credit. Most of them got their start and honed their skills via online poker.
Here are the top 10 of them, according to the Hendon Mob Database as of 2023:
1. Richard Dixon ($852K)
2. Jeff Heiberg ($408K)
3. Michael Harris (367K)
4. Gary Germann ($302K)
5. Ryan Remington ($223K)
6. John Alm ($170K)
7. Rosie Paules (127K)
8. Erik Macias ($87K)
9. Sam Britton ($84K)
10. Sergio Mireles ($67K)
Wyoming Gambling Information
Wyoming Gaming Commission: This is the full website of the Wyoming Gaming Commission, which explains all forms of legal gambling, rules and regulations, and the most updated news.
Gambling Statutes: Via the Wyoming Gaming Commission website, this page lists all gambling-related bills and laws, complete with links to the text of each.
Wyoming Legislature: The portal to all things pertaining to the state legislature is the most updated place for past and potential legislation, members of the legislature, and news.
WyoLotto: The Wyoming Lottery, nicknamed WyoLotto, provides the latest lottery and keno numbers and lists retailers that sell tickets.
Wyoming Council on Problem Gambling: The state offers advocacy, assistance, and awareness around issues pertaining to problem gambling.
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