Is Online Poker Time For The United States

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In what was an extremely small occurrence with what could be much wider ranging implications, the Illinois State Lottery recently became the first American lottery provider to offer tickets on the web.

This may sound strange to non-U. S. citizens but it's not through a lack of technological capability. The reason dates back to 1961 and the Wire Act, an item of legislation which prohibited betting on sports events via the telephone. Until recently, uncertainty about whether this Act also restricted online casino and lottery gaming meant that no-one risked breaching the law.

That was until December 2011 when the U. S. Department of Justice decided that the Wire Act only restricted sports betting online and not alternative activities, which include on the web gambling. The Illinois State Lottery was the first to offer this service and other States will certainly follow.

But how does this affect the once huge market for online poker? What about blackjack and roulette? That is clearly a more complicated matter. These games still suffer from the effects of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) 2006 which prohibited the transfer of money to websites offering these games.

Some states are trying to find their own routes surrounding this legislation. While all poker fans would rather the federal government to regulate this industry and have it back on it's feet, currently it looks like it will be up to the more progressive States to get the ball rolling.

Nevada may be the furthest along this particular track - at one point the bricks and mortar casino industry in Las Vegas and Reno were set against on the web gaming, fearing their revenues would be hit. They now appear to have experienced the writing on the wall and accepted this will happen sooner or later. Consequently some have entered into partnerships with existing non-U. S. online casinos to set up the necessary infrastructure in preparation for statewide regulation.

Nevada also boasts the Nevada Gaming Commission which is already in the act of creating a regulatory framework to govern intrastate online gaming. In the absence of any federal, nationwide regulation, American poker domino players can only hope that how many states which are willing to press ahead with their own gaming networks will reach a kind of critical mass which will force the governments hand.

The Illinois State Lottery is a small start but hopefully the first faltering step back on the path to sensible Casino legislation.