Wednesday was a big day for Michigan online poker players as the State Senate passed a package of bills that make online poker, sports betting, daily fantasy sports and online casino legal inside state borders.

The three bills each passed the Senate by a 35-3 vote and will need to next pass through the House for concurrence before it lands on the desk of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her signature and final approval. The bills should pass through the house on Wednesday night.

This marks the second straight year that Michigan has passed an online gambling bill. In 2018, the legislature passed H 4926 by a 33-5 before then Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed the bill a week later before leaving office.

Michigan residents have little reason to fear a repeat result though. Governor Whitmer has been involved in the drafting of the bill and was involved in the tax rate negotiations that eventually lead to its passing.

According to John Pappas, former director of the Poker Players Alliance, the bill does not allow for interstate liquidity sharing due to Governor Whitmer’s concerns over online slot revenues potentially leaving the state.

For my #poker followers, the MI iGaming/iPoker bill does not authorize multi-state compacting. This was something the Governor did not want in the bill, but her concern was about progressive online slot jackpots. Perhaps reg or leg solution can fix this for poker pools.

— John A Pappas (@yanni_dc) December 11, 2019

Michigan has a population of nearly 10 million and will be a larger stand-alone market than New Jersey but smaller than Pennsylvania.

Once the bill is signed by Whitmer, it will make Michigan the sixth state to legalize online joining Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.