Hence the casinos are cozying up to some tech-savvy offshore partners whose pedigrees might give regulators pause. Online poker is a business that involves processing billions of dollars worth of bets and battling the fraudsters, cheats and robot-player software that can ruin the games. Many of the cash-starved states, encouraged by intensive industry lobbying, have felt freer to act since December, when the Justice Department declared that one federal anti-gambling law, the Wire Act, would no longer be enforced beyond sports betting.īut casino operators, Indian tribes and Internet powers bent on offering online poker lack experience delivering it.
market even though founders of both were indicted by the Justice Department last year on charges of illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering, according to people familiar with the situation.Īll this comes as Nevada prepares to license the first online poker operators and software suppliers late next month - and as California, New Jersey, Iowa, Massachusetts, Delaware and other states debate similar moves. Meanwhile, offshore gambling outfit PokerStars is considering buying its chief offshore rival, Full Tilt, and making a run at the U.S.
