Illinois has emerged as the most credible candidate to become the next US state to legalize iGaming, and with it regulated online poker. House Bill 1167, introduced in the Illinois General Assembly, would authorize online casino gaming under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Gaming Board — and analysts estimate it could generate close to $400 million annually in tax revenue.
In a year where no US iGaming initiative has made meaningful progress, that combination of a large population, an existing regulatory body, and a serious revenue number makes Illinois the one worth watching.
Where the US Map Actually Stands
Some clarity on the numbers, because they get muddled constantly.
Six states currently have live, taxed, regulated online casino gambling: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Delaware, West Virginia and Connecticut. Rhode Island has joined the group, and Maine is set to become the eighth after Governor Janet Mills allowed LD 1164 to become law without her signature in January 2026 — though Maine's launch is still working through rulemaking, an exclusive tribal licensing structure, and a federal lawsuit from Oxford Casino challenging the tribal monopoly.
Online poker specifically has a slightly different map, with nine states having authorized it in some form. Authorization and availability are not the same thing — a state can be legal on paper and have no operator running games.
Our US online poker guide breaks down which states are actually playable today versus which are legal-but-dormant.
Why Illinois Is the Best Candidate
Population and existing market. Illinois has nearly 13 million residents and a mature commercial casino sector plus legal sports betting already regulated by the Illinois Gaming Board. There is no need to build a regulator from scratch — HB 1167 places iGaming under an agency that already licenses operators and audits gaming revenue.
A revenue number legislators can use. Roughly $400 million annually is the kind of figure that survives a budget negotiation. Illinois has persistent fiscal pressure, and iGaming has become the standard answer for states looking for revenue that does not require a broad tax increase.
Precedent next door. Michigan launched iGaming in 2021 and has become one of the strongest performing markets in the country, with record US iGaming revenue posted across Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Jersey in 2026. Illinois legislators can point to a neighboring state doing this successfully rather than arguing from theory.
Multi-state potential. This is the part that matters most for poker specifically. An Illinois with 13 million residents joining a shared liquidity pool would be transformative. The current MSIGA network and the four-state BetRivers pool are functional but thin. Adding Illinois would meaningfully change tournament guarantees and cash-game spread for every player in the compact.
The Obstacles Are Real
Optimism should be tempered. Early in 2026, iGaming bills were advanced or reintroduced in multiple states and none made significant progress. The pattern is consistent and the reasons are predictable.
Land-based casino opposition. Brick-and-mortar operators and the unions representing their workers consistently argue that online casino cannibalizes physical casino revenue and costs jobs. The empirical evidence from Michigan and New Jersey suggests cannibalization is limited and online often grows the total market — but the argument is politically potent regardless.
Tax rate disagreements. New York is the cautionary tale here. Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. and Assemblywoman Woerner reintroduced SB 2614 and AB 6030 in January 2026 to legalize online poker and casino games, and the bills stalled on exactly two questions: what tax rate to apply (proposals ranged from 25% to 50%) and how many licenses to issue. Neither question has an obvious answer, and both have well-funded constituencies on either side.
Competition for legislative attention. Sports betting is established, prediction markets are consuming enormous regulatory bandwidth, and sweepstakes casinos have triggered bans in more than a dozen states. iGaming has to compete for floor time against all of it.
Virginia and others in the queue. SB118 and HB161 in Virginia propose legalizing iGaming including digital slots, table games and poker. Virginia is a plausible alternative, but Illinois has the bigger population and the stronger revenue case.
Why Poker Always Gets Dragged Along
Worth understanding: poker is almost never the driver of these bills. It is a passenger.
The revenue in iGaming comes overwhelmingly from slots and table games, where the house edge is fixed and the margin is predictable. Poker generates a fraction of the revenue per player and requires liquidity to function at all — a state can launch online slots successfully on day one, but a poker room with 400 registered players is a dead product.
The practical consequence is that poker gets included in iGaming bills because excluding it would be strange, not because anyone is fighting for it. And once a state legalizes, whether poker actually launches depends on whether an operator thinks the population supports it.
This is why the multi-state question is more important than the legalization question for poker players specifically. A legalized Illinois that does not join MSIGA or a comparable compact would give Illinois residents a small, ring-fenced poker pool. A legalized Illinois that joins a shared pool improves the game for everyone in it.
What This Means for Players
If you are in Illinois, nothing changes yet. HB 1167 is introduced, not passed, and even a successful bill means rulemaking and licensing before games go live — Maine legalized in January 2026 and operators are still expected to launch in late 2026 or early 2027. Realistically, an Illinois launch is a 2028 conversation at the earliest even in a good scenario.
In the meantime, Illinois players' options are the offshore rooms. Our reviews of BetOnline, Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker cover the main choices, and the safe poker sites guide covers how to evaluate operators outside a regulated framework — payment reliability, licensing, and withdrawal track record matter far more when there is no state regulator backing you up.
If you are in a regulated state, watch the multi-state compact news rather than the legalization news. Each state that joins a shared pool improves your games directly. Each state that legalizes without joining does not.
Do not hold your breath. US online poker expansion has been forecast as imminent every year since 2013 and has delivered nine states in thirteen years. The trend is positive and glacial. Play the market that exists rather than the one that might.
Illinois remains the best shot on the board. That is a real statement and a modest one.