Is Online Poker Returning To The United States

In what would be a small occurrence in what could possibly be much wider ranging implications, the Illinois State Lottery recently had become the first American lottery provider to sell tickets online.

This may sound strange to non-U.S. citizens however it is not via a deficiency of technological capability. The reason goes back to 1961 as well as the Wire Act, a piece of legislation which prohibited betting on sports events using the telephone. Until recently, uncertainty about whether this Act also restricted online casino and lottery gaming meant no person risked breaching the law.

That was until December 2011 once the U.S. Department of Justice decided the Wire Act only restricted sports betting web not other activities, which include online gambling. The Illinois State Lottery was the first person to offer a reverse phone lookup and also other States will really follow.

But how does this affect the once huge market for on-line poker? What about blackjack and roulette? That's a harder matter. These games still suffer from the consequences from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) 2006 which prohibited the transfer of cash to websites offering these games.

Some states are searching for their particular routes surrounding this legislation. While all situs poker online fans would rather the government to regulate this industry and acquire it back on it's feet, currently it appears as if it will be up to greater progressive States to get the ball rolling.

Nevada is the furthest along this specific track - at some part the bricks and mortar casino industry in Las Vegas and Reno were set against online gaming, fearing their revenues will be hit. They now have the symptoms of seen the writing for the wall and accepted this can happen eventually. Consequently some have inked partnerships with existing non-U.S. online casinos to put together the necessary infrastructure when preparing for statewide regulation.

Nevada also boasts the Nevada Gaming Commission which is already along the way of generating a regulatory framework to govern intrastate online gaming. In the absence of any federal, nationwide regulation, American poker players can only hope the variety of states which can be happy 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 often a small start but hopefully step one back about the road to sensible Casino legislation.