Michigan is the latest state to start showing a little interest in online gaming. OK, so at this stage it's only with lotteries in mind but this is a far cry from what they previously thought about online gaming. The Michigan Bureau of State Lottery has put a document together requesting proposals for, "development, implementation, operational support and maintenance of an iLottery System and iLottery Games. It's worth noting that at this stage in time these games do not include poker but they do include things like instant scratch cards and keno. To many observers the offering of scratch cards and instants online is the exact same thing as offering slots and that they are just seen in a different light. It's a little hypocritical to place a ban on slots yet allow such games as keno to be run by the state online. Michigan is hoping that the sale of lottery based products online will boost the states income by $118 million in the first four years alone with that figure growing to $361 million in the four years after that. They are also hoping to be offering sales across a wide range of digital platforms such as the web, mobile, tablet and social areas to maximize customer participation in their new venture. Does this have the potential to other forms of online gaming being given the green light? Or in fact other states taking the same route? On those question we'll just have to wait and see, but here's to Michigan for giving it a shot.
