Is Online Poker Returning To The United States

In what was an extremely small occurrence with what may be much wider ranging implications, the Illinois State Lottery recently became the first American lottery provider to market tickets online.

This may sound strange to non-U. S. citizens but it's not through a lack of technological capability. The main reason dates back to 1961 and the Wire Act, a piece 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 line gambling. The Illinois State Lottery was the first to offer this service and other States will surely 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 attempting to find their own routes around this legislation. While all poker fans would rather the federal government to manage this industry and have it back on it's feet, currently it looks as though it will be up to the more progressive States to get the ball rolling.

Nevada is the furthest along this particular track - at one point the bricks and mortar casino industry in Vegas and Reno were set against on line gaming, fearing their revenues would be hit. They now appear to have experienced the writing on the wall and accepted this will happen in the course of time. 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 that will be already in the act of creating a regulatory framework to govern intrastate online gaming. In the absence of any federal, nationwide regulation, American poker qiuqiu players can only hope that how many states which are willing to press ahead with their own gaming networks will reach sort of critical mass which will force the governments hand.

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