Mayor Hopes Legalizing Poker Will Help Revitalize D.C.'s Stale Economy
Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) is betting on poker playing a role in putting a jolt into Washington, D.C.'s stale economy.
Poker isn't legal in the nation's capital, although there are card rooms in nearby Baltimore, Maryland, where World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) events have taken place. The PokerStars Open at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, to be live reported by PokerNews, runs in October. But D.C. locals have to take their business outside their hometown to play poker, at least for now.
Second Shot at Legalizing Poker
Mayor Bowser unveiled a $21.8 billion FY2026 budget for the District of Columbia in May, which included a proposal to authorize and tax live poker, blackjack, and bingo. The proposed Poker and Blackjack Gaming Authorization Act of 2025 called for legal poker and blackjack tournaments in the District for those aged 18 and older.
"They tell me it's hot," Bowser said during a May budget presentation, as she argued that poker could help revitalize the city's economy.
That proposal, however, was unsuccessful and didn't reach the final draft of Council Bill 26-0265. But the mayor announced at a press conference on Tuesday that she's ready to give it another try.
Bowser was asked by a reporter if the administration had made any revenue projections on how much money the poker and blackjack proposal could bring in for the District. She admitted that "the ideas are so novel" that the city's CFO hasn't yet provided an estimate on revenues.
"So, the revenue projections really depend on how many events we host," Deputy Mayor Nina Albert chimed in. "So, we're still sort of formulating what the plan would be. But even if we had just one or two marquee national tournaments here, that is another attraction that brings both national and international visitors to D.C., which is always the platform we wanted to create for our entertainment ecosystem."
Axios reported last week that the D.C. economy is at a "pivotal moment" with job growth and hiring being outpaced by the number of residents looking for jobs. The unemployment rate in the District has been stuck at 6% for multiple months.
Confidence in the economy among local business owners is also low, the report shows. Mayor Bowser is gambling on poker creating jobs and bringing in new visitors to D.C., which she hopes will, in turn, help revitalize the stale economy.
