Maryland Legal Online Poker
Online poker has not been legalized and regulated in Maryland. Online poker and online casinos exist in a gray area. While players cannot play at licensed and regulated online cardrooms and casinos, Maryland authorities do not prosecute players for infractions. The Maryland state statutes are put up online, and this is where we had gone to determine whether or not online poker is a crime. Having actively hunted down each poker related law, we had found no indication that playing online is a crime.
Marylanders quickly found that separation from the British Empire came with additional expenses as they found themselves scrambling to fund critical infrastructure projects in the opening years of the Old Line State's independence. To meet these financial needs, the state's legislature in Annapolis authorized numerous lotteries designed to wrest money into the state coffers. In the years since however, the state has vacillated back and forth between allowing various forms of gaming.
From charitable, licensed lotteries that proliferated throughout the 19th-century to outrights bans led by religious groups in this conservative Catholic state, today Maryland is a dichotomy of conflicting attitudes about gambling. Economic downturns during the Great Recession changed the perspective of Marylanders who soon saw the financial advantages of at least some forms of regulated gambling opportunities.
As a result, Maryland moved forward with the licensing of several land-based casinos that provide an array of gambling options for Marylanders and visitors from other states. While they opened the door on regulated gaming, legislators in The Old Line State draw a legal line in the sand against expansion to the regulation of online gambling and poker play.
Flanked as they are by two of the states that have already committed to the regulated online gaming frontier, New Jersey and Delaware, perhaps the state is looking to their performance, but for now Maryland is in the wilderness when it comes to adopting comprehensive legislation.
Let us explore the definition and particulars of Maryland's unique gaming laws before taking a look at what the future holds for the legal online poker market.
Maryland Gambling Laws
Generationally speaking, Maryland's stance on gambling had been a moving target for the better part of the last two centuries. Vacillating between outrights bans based on moral concerns to allowing access as he state's financial needs dictate, the state is currently in a more permissive cycle in its acceptance of gambling measures in their legislature and gambling houses In their neighborhoods.
As of 2017, here is a brief rundown where gamblers legally stand when gaming in Maryland:
Casino Games— Are a recent development in Maryland with passage only occurring in 2012, and the first casinos opening their doors the following year. The state's legislation authorized the building of upwards of five state regulated commercial casinos throughout their jurisdiction featuring table games and slot machines.
Sports Betting— Federal legislation, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, largely eliminated sports betting to only a few jurisdictions, and Maryland is not one of them. Currently, only pari-mutuel betting on horse races is allowed, which includes live simulcast of racing between states. Additionally, live racing action is available at Laurel Park and Pimlico Racecourse.
Lottery Betting— Maryland has hosted a state lottery since voters approved a 1973 measure to develop a Lottery Board to regulate play. As an indication of the game's popularity, sales have generated more than $13 billion in revenues to the state's treasury.
Bingo Games—are allowed for charitable fundraising purposes in Maryland, which have to be individually licensed to be considered legal. In an interesting twist from other states, this licensing requirement has been deregulated to the county level.
Live Poker— is very popular in Maryland, and players throng the poker rooms of Hannover's Maryland Live Casino, the Rocky Gap Casino Resort, Ocean Downs, Hollywood Casino in Perryville, and the Horseshoe in Baltimore. While social games are illegal under Maryland statutes, the laws are not enforced if no one stands to benefit by dint of hosting the event.
Online Casinos and Poker— Any interpretation of Maryland's laws regarding gambling in general would suggest that online gambling and poker are considered illegal under the state's legal codes. While the Internet is not mentioned specifically in the statutes, the practice certainly falls beneath the shade of the legislature's broader definition of gambling. On the up side, Maryland has always shown a sense of pragmatism regarding regulated gambling, and many believe they are taking a wait and see attitude on the question.
Maryland Online Poker Laws
While there is no law addressing the legality of online gambling in Maryland, the law is pretty specific as to what it views as illegal. Towards that end, Section 12-102 simply states that a person may not 'bet, wager, or gamble.'
The legal statutes then proceed to list a litany of prohibited behavior. Two include the term 'gaming device,' which could presumably include computers or mobile devices:
- Keeping a gaming device
- Renting a building or vessel knowing you will allow a gaming device to be used
Since Maryland's law criminalizes any form of gambling that is not explicitly legalized by the state, and Maryland's silence on the matter would suggest online gambling is illegal. Strong forces from the licensed commercial casinos exert an organized lobbying effort on state legislatures, for fear such clarifications might bite into their bottom line.
Regardless, and as mentioned above, Marylanders adopt a pragmatic approach to their regulation of gambling, and they are undoubtedly looking to their neighbors, New Jersey and Delaware before moving to make any substantive change to their legal stance on online gambling.
In the meantime however, actual online play chilled in Maryland in the wake of federal law enforcement in 2011, which made it that much more difficult for Maryland residents to open up accounts at participating U.S. facing websites.
In 2006, then-President George W. Bush signed into law the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) with the clear intent to curb online gambling by making it illegal for financial groups and banks to process money that derived from gambling activity. The belief behind the measure was that if you could turn the tap off the funds, players and operators would have no reason to continue gambling.
On April 15, 2011, federal officials moved forward with indictments against the biggest players in the online gambling industry with indictments handed down to the operators of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker.
Federal investigators found evidence implicating these companies of attempting to skirt UIGEA strictures by enlisting third-party payment processors. This legal move rocked the online gambling world and is known in poker history as 'Black Friday.' As it turns out for Maryland players however, Black Friday was just the first shoe to drop.
The second shoe, a second wave of indictments, known as 'Blue Monday,' hit the national news cycle with a decidedly Maryland slant. The government opened the second salvo in support of the UIGEA by seizing ten domain names that they identified as illegal online gambling sites, and slapped them with dual charges related to money laundering and operating an illegal gambling operation.
The indictments were the result of a two-year sting orchestrated by law enforcement officials from the Department of Homeland Security that saw the establishment of a federal-controlled payment processing center that tracked the processing of more than $33 million in gambling transactions before pouncing. Needless to say, a mass exodus of offshore poker sites makes it difficult for Maryland players to find sites that are willing to accept their application.
Is it Legal to Play Poker in Maryland?
When played at the sanctioned, commercial casinos dotting the Maryland landscape, it is perfectly legal to play poker in the Old Line State. These casinos offer an array of gaming options from three card stud to Texas Hold 'em. With hundreds of open card tables in the state's five brick-and-mortar casinos, the gambling revenues helped stem the dollars flowing from the coffers in Annapolis to those of Dover and Trenton.
Social home games became legal in Maryland as of October 2016 after both houses of the legislature unanimously passed the measure before sending it to the governor's mansion for Governor Larry Hogan's signature. Under the wording of the new law, as long as the amount of money sitting on the table amounts to no more than $1,000 amongst all the home game players at any given time, players can legally play live poker with their friends.
Will Maryland Regulate Online Poker?
The answer to this question will be determined over time, and based on the performance of Maryland's neighbors, Delaware and New Jersey. Indeed, the primary impetus for Maryland opening their own commercial casinos was in direct response to watching its denizens crossing state lines and spending their dollars to fill other state treasuries. While Maryland's timeline for regulating online gambling and poker play, ruling the state out altogether would be a mistake considering the state's historically pragmatic approach to the expansion of gambling.
History of Gambling in Maryland
Dating back to before statehood, Marylanders have never been averse to throwing the dice, metaphorically speaking, when it comes to adopting pro-gambling measures when it meets their needs. The first legalized gambling in the state began in 1791in the form of 'lottery grants for churches' that led to an explosion of private lotteries that numbered in thousands before the state stepped in to stop the process in 1834 when the authorities stopped issuing new licenses.
Horse racing came to the Old Line State in the 1920s, and that particular gaming entertainment is still a practiced today. The mid to late 1940s saw the growth of slot machine style play that earned portions of the state the moniker, 'little Las Vegas' for a number of years until state officials pulled back from the measure. The last slot machine licensed expired in 1968 and along with it the days of the state being awash in slot machine style gambling.
The 1970s witnessed the beginning of what would become a billion dollar industry when they established the Maryland State Lottery, which they followed up with a referendum to allow commercial style casinos within the state's jurisdiction.
References
Although Maryland is ranked just 42nd largest of all the 50 US states, it packs in quite a population of 5,928,814, listed as the 19th most populous. The tertiary service sector, particularly affective labor, is the state’s most significant economical resource, but the extensive shoreline and proximity to Washington D. C. draws a great deal of travelers to the area. To further bolster the tourism industry, Maryland chose to expand its gambling offerings to include regulated casino gambling on slots and, more recently, table games. The venture has been phenomenally successful, but the legalization of online poker has yet to come to fruition.
There were innumerable online poker players in the Old Line State pre-Black Friday, most of which would like to know just where the local government stands on the issue of internet gaming. The fact that it has not been regulated doesn’t necessarily make it illegal. The laws of many states leave online poker in a grey area. We will examine the gambling legislation of Maryland to determine what legal category internet poker falls into.
Maryland Legal Online Poker Real Money
Land-based Gambling in Maryland
Maryland wasn’t always so agreeable to the idea of land-based casino gambling. In the first half of the 20th century, Southern Maryland was known as Little Nevada for its abundance of slots facilities, but fearing corruption, the state outlawed casinos in 1968. Maryland legalized charitable casino slots in the 1970’s and established a state-run lottery, bringing in millions for state-funded programs, but by the 1990’s, charitable slots were again prohibited due to corruption.
The subject didn’t resurface until 2008 when voters approved the return of slot machines at five locations. The first, Hollywood Casino Perryville, opened its doors on September 17, 2010. Four years later, table games, including poker, were sanctioned, along with a new casino establishment in Prince George County, scheduled to open as MGM National Harbor sometime in 2016.
Maryland is also home to four horse racing tracks including Pimlico Race Course, established in 1870 and home of the Triple Crown event, Preakness Stakes.
Deciphering the Laws of Maryland as they relate to Online Poker
Maryland is obviously open to the idea of generating tax dollars from regulated gambling activities. Since online poker isn’t expressly authorized, we’ve scoured the gambling laws of the Old Line State to find context that could be related to real money internet poker. The following excerpts are taken from Title 12 of the Criminal Law section of Maryland’s Statutes and Codes, with brief meanings provided for each.
| Section | Text | Meaning (in re online poker) |
| § gcr-12-101 Definitions | d. 1. “Gaming device” means: i. a gaming table, except a billiard table, at which a game of chance is played for money or any other thing or consideration of value; or ii. a game or device at which money or any other thing or consideration of value is bet, wagered, or gambled. | There is no differentiation between a game of chance or skill by Maryland law, therefore a gaming device would include a poker table. Because no clarification is specified for mechanical or electronic devices, it could possibly include an online poker table as well. |
| § gcr-12-102 | a. A person may not: 1. bet, wager, or gamble;c. 1. The provisions of this subsection apply only in Baltimore City. 2. A person who violates this section may be charged by a citation. | Betting, wagering or gambling of any kind is strictly prohibited in Baltimore City, MD. A citation means the culprit will have to pay an unspecified fine or appear in court, similar to the penalty for a traffic violation. |
| § gcr-12-107 | 1. The prohibition in subsection (b) of this section applies notwithstanding a license or permit granted through or by a county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of this State.2. This section does not apply to: i. pari-mutuel betting conducted under the Maryland Horse Racing Act; ii. bingo, carnivals, raffles, bazaars, or similar games of entertainment; or iii. …slot machines, that are authorized in the State… | This section does not apply to licensed operators who conduct authorized gambling activities. |
| b. A person may not conduct or operate with pari-mutuel betting, or with any similar form of betting, wagering, or gambling: 1. …jai alai… 2. any other game, contest, or event. | Criminalized gambling is extremely ambiguous in this section, and therefore seems to apply to any form of gambling that is not authorized. However, the term ‘conduct or operate’ alludes to the person running the game, not the players. |
Is Online Poker Illegal in Maryland?
Not exactly. Online poker seems to fall into a grey area of the law in Maryland (except for residents of Baltimore City). Although it is not a regulated form of gambling, the penalties appear to fall on the operators, not the players.
In Baltimore City, however, the laws state that any type of gambling is illegal, and therefore an online poker player may be subject to a citation.
Is Maryland working to Legalize Online Poker?
Maybe. The topic of regulated online gambling in Maryland was introduced by House Speaker Michael E. Busch in 2012 in a memo regarding an upcoming hearing on gambling expansion, but was dropped from the discussion before it ever began. Instead, the state chose to authorize table games, bringing land-based poker to the Old Line State.
Nearby competition has already pushed Maryland into expanding its casino industry over the last few years, and the presence of internet gambling in Delaware and New Jersey could be a catalyst for online poker development in the foreseeable future. Lawmakers have stated that they wish to keep the focus on the development Maryland’s nascent casino industry for the time being, but that could change if iGaming opportunities in nearby jurisdictions begin to detract from the state’s land-based gambling industry.
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Online Poker Players from Maryland
The evidence that online poker isn’t illegal in Maryland is further supported by the fact that many online poker players from the state don’t bother to mask their identity. The most prominent online poker pro proudly residing in Maryland is James “mx4ever” Sloat, who racked up over $625k on PokerStars and $260k on Full Tilt before Black Friday. He now plays primarily on the Winning Poker Network as “MBRMACR”. Other successful online poker players from Maryland include Josh “TKO121” Mischel of Baltimore and Brian “Poker366” Hollywood of Pasadena.
Land-Based Card Rooms in Maryland
Maryland Online Poker Sites
There are currently 5 land-based casinos in Maryland, all licensed and regulated by the state’s Lottery and Gaming Control Commission. A sixth licensed destination, MGM National Harbor, is under construction in Prince George County, slated to cut the ribbons in 2016. Four of the state’s casinos offer poker rooms, with the largest being the 25-table WSOP-branded poker room at Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, and the doubly massive 52-table, two-story poker room at Maryland Live! Casino.
Casino at Ocean Downs
Location: Berlin, MD
Poker Room: No
Hollywood Casino Perryville
Location: Port Deposit, MD
Poker Room: Yes
Horseshoe Casino Baltimore
Location: Baltimore, MD
Poker Room: Yes
Maryland Live! Casino
Location: Hanover, MD
Poker Room: Yes
Rocky Gap Casino Resort
Location: Cumberland, MD
Poker Room: Yes