Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is making another attempt to legalize poker, blackjack and bingo in the district with the introduction of a piece of legislation.
Bowser introduced the Poker and Blackjack Gaming Authorization Act of 2025, authorizing poker, blackjack and bingo at certain facilities. Bowser initially announced her push to legalize poker, blackjack and bingo as part of a $21.8 billion FY2026 budget.
Bowser wants to legalize poker, blackjack and bingo to spur business growth while expanding D.C.’s sports and entertainment market as federal job cuts loom. The mayor garnered recent support on the gaming expansion by DC Council member Kenyan McDuffie, Chair of the district’s Committee on Business and Economic Development.
McDuffie was instrumental in establishing D.C. as an open sports betting market in 2024. He is supporting the measure as DC CFO Glen Lee expects a “mild recession” in FY2026.
Bowser’s piece of legislation, Council Bill B26-0379, was referred to the Committee on Business and Economic Development after being introduced earlier this month.
What poker, bingo and blackjack could look like in D.C.
Council Bill B26-0379 allows poker and blackjack tournaments to be held at hotels, restaurants and other licensed attraction venues. The events hosted by licensed entities can only include patrons 18 years or old. Under the measure, prospective operators are required to pay a nonrefundable $5,000 application fee, plus $2,000 for each location where the operator will host gaming. The application fee is for a two-year license.
A license renewal is $1,500 plus $500 for each location that holds a license. Operators with existing licenses that want to open gaming operations at a new location must pay $1,000.
Council Bill B26-0379 mandates operators that offer poker and blackjack wagering to be taxed at a 25% rate on gross gaming. The measure requires the first $250,000 of related tax revenue to be allocated toward the Lottery, Gambling and Gaming Fund, while the remaining revenue is distributed to the district’s General Fund. The bill takes a different tax approach to bingo. It requires bingo wagering revenue to be taxed at a 7.5% rate.
Sportsbooks in D.C. that aren’t partnered with a sports venue are taxed at a 30% rate.
Under Council Bill B26-0379, the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) is the proposed regulator of card gaming in D.C. Bowser’s measure expands the OLG and allocates additional staff and resources to accommodate the expansion of gaming.
If Council Bill B26-0379 is passed, poker, blackjack and bingo could go live in 2026. The measure faces an uphill battle for approval as similar measures that proposed authorizing poker and blackjack failed to progress in previous legislative sessions in the district.
300-year-old gaming law sparked lawsuit in D.C.
Council Bill B26-0379 comes after Bowser challenged a 300-year old provision, the Statute of Anne. The provision allows losing bettors to sue winners to recover losses. It was implemented to protect the financial well-being of gamblers and discourage gambling.
Earlier this year, DC Gambling Recovery filed a lawsuit seeking the recovery of losses incurred by sports betting since the district became a regulated betting market in 2019.
The group, formed just days before the lawsuit was filed, sued some of the largest sports betting operators in the district claiming more than $300 million in restitution was owed. Bowser’s FY2026 budget proposed placing sports betting outside the scope of the provision. The budget, approved by the DC Council in July, put an end to the lawsuit.
