Copyright: miluxian / 123RF Stock Photo

A bill that would legalise online casino gaming in the US state of Michigan moved a step nearer becoming law last night, with the proposals backed 68-40 by the Michigan House of Representatives, reports The Detroit News.

If the bill, which will likely be put to a Senate vote in the autumn, is enacted, casinos would be apble to apply for online gaming licences.

Players would have to be aged 21 or over with earnings subject to an eight per cent tax.

The legislation also includes the establishing of a framework for legal sports betting – provided sports betting is first legalised by the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

“It will allow internet gaming as it relates to all of the currently allowed games in a brick-and-mortar casino, that’d be poker, roulette, black jack, craps,” Representative Brandt Iden, the bill’s lead sponsor, is quoted as saying.

Iden also gave assurances that tribal casinos would not be excluded. However he added that the state would retain the right with withdraw online gambling rights if the federal government rules that tribal casinos cannot offer off-reservation gaming services.

The tax revenue generated would be spread between school aid and transportation, with five per cent each, and the remainder split between the city of Detroit and for the cost of operating the online gambling network.