There have been many states that have been pushing and lobbying for legal online gambling for years now. It’s not a case of just one or two states that are keen to legalise the industry and assist in making the industry fully regulated. There are numerous states that are showing an active interest and are now pushing for change.

It is common knowledge that the US state which is furthest ahead in approving and permitting requested applications for online poker licenses is Nevada, and the institution to approve such gambling portals and hand out licenses to these websites is the Nevada Gaming Commission.

The District of Columbia will also be one of the first most likely to allow online gambling in 2012. There are already predictions from certain expert analysts that US players will soon be able to legally log in to their favourite online casino and start wagering with real money, as early as this year.

Other states from coast to coast will inevitably push for a similar move and the rate at which this transformation will happen is still unclear but as the each state applies to legally permit online gambling, other states will then rapidly follow suit. California will certainly be one of the next states to implement change after Nevada and we will then see the effect rapidly spreading across the US.

New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Iowa are also tipped to be the next states to permit and regulate online gambling, meaning legislation will have to be passed before online gambling is legal.

Since the Wire Act was recognised by both the Courts and the Department Of Justice as not affecting the activities and transactions made at online casinos, poker sites or bingo sites, more states have shown a considerable interest in applying for change. Shares in major online gambling portals immediately shot up after the opinion was published by the DOJ over the Christmas period in 2011.

Instead of the vast sums of cash leaking overseas and into the pockets of foreign operators, opening the floodgates here will see that huge wave of cash staying within US shores and giving the economy a sizeable cash injection, with continued revenue from then on.

As soon as there are legal gambling websites operating from within the US, analysts have predicted it could generate up to $10 billion on a yearly basis. Legal poker sites are expected to generate the most revenue and therefore states would be silly not to try and get their own piece of the pie.

Online casinos in most states will inevitably become legal, as well as the poker and bingo sites. It will then it will be down to congress to amend the wire act so that sports betting websites are not affected by the legislation, allowing these sites to then operate without hindrance.

It appears as though one of the world’s largest economies can now finally be tapped into, but it will still take some time for complete legality of these sites to be fully recognised by US law.