So far Nevada has been the only state that has made progress when it comes to intrastate online poker. It has already been authorized in the state, and a recent Nevada Gaming Control Board meeting set up a timeline for the rest of the year. Chairman Mark Lipparelli set out the goal of the next one to two months for the first licenses to be issued. After that it will take an additional six to eight months until games are live online for Nevada residents.

Present at the meeting was Bwin.party Digital Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan. Bwin.party, the same team that runs the Bwin Poker download, and MGM Resorts International are in business together and are waiting for online games to be available in Nevada. MGM Resorts International owns well known properties such as the Bellagio and the Mirage.

Ryan was at the meeting to deliver a speech pertaining to online poker security.  Security seems to be at the forefront of any concerns in Nevada as the six to eight month period will be used to approve the technology of licensed sites and test the software privately.

While Nevada is the only state ready to welcome online poker back within its borders, much work remains to be finished. Possible changes include language having to do with licenses and the fees involved.

If you are living in Nevada and anxiously waiting to play online poker again, you will just need to be patient for the time being. In the meantime, why not play some online slots for real money? Poker may not be available to you in the States, but there are plenty of other games you can play while waiting.

The most recent news is that Bwin.party has entered into an agreement with the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC). The UAIC owns and operates the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, CA. Bwin.party believes that since California has the largest state population in America while also housing many professional poker players, this endeavor will be a good one for them.

The UAIC and Bwin.party entered into an agreement to offer online poker in California in preparation for the potential enactment of intrastate legislation. UAIC would be able to obtain the necessary licenses, and the same company that runs the Party Poker download would oversee the running of the online poker site. The agreement would encompass a ten year period from whenever online poker services begin.

The Internet Gambling Consumer Protection and Public-Private Partnership Act of 2012 (SB 1463) was introduced in February 2012 in California by Senators Wright and Steinberg. There is no known timeline of when this legislation would become a law, so time still exists for other online gambling giants to link up with other existing legal gambling entities in California. The legislation would regular, license and tax online poker within California’s borders.

If you are a fan of other casino games, chances are that legislation would enable you to legally play all casino games online. Whether your favorite game is blackjack, roulette, or Undersea Treasure slots, you should keep your fingers crossed for regulation is the near future.

Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston was one of the original trailblazers of the game. You are probably also familiar with Doyle Brunson, another of the original trailblazers. The men had been friends for decades, playing in many of the early games together. On Sunday April 29th, Brunson broke the news on his Twitter that Slim had passed away at the age of 83.

Slim was one of poker’s first celebrities and helped to bring the game to the public eye before poker on television was the norm. Slim was a four time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, as well as the winner of the third ever WSOP Main Event in 1972.

Slim’s prowess at gambling didn’t end with poker, as he was willing to bet on just about anything. Slim’s gambling exploits lead to him proclaiming himself to be the “World’s Greatest Gambler.” I feel sure that if they had been around back then, he would have dropped a lot of dough playing Craps online.

Though many players in the early days weren’t interested in the spotlight, Slim sought to thrust himself into it. He succeeded in doing so as he was featured numerous times on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson in the 1970’s. He always caught the eye of the camera whenever he made his way out to any televised WSOP event.

Slim’s legend in the poker world even maintained after his days in the limelight ended as he was referred to in the famous poker film “Rounders.” He will forever be known as one of poker’s founding fathers, truly larger than life. He probably didn’t get a chance to play on the best Euro poker sites, but it seems like he managed to do everything else in life!

Rush Poker was insanely popular on FTP as it offered a fresh format that was unheard of in the online poker industry. The biggest selling point of the format was that you could fold your hand and be off to the next table right away. There was no waiting for the hand at your current table to finish. You could even click a button to “quick fold” before the action even got to you, which effectively cut down the time you spent in hands you didn’t really care for.

Rush Poker was offered in several forms of poker in cash games as well as in tournaments. Its popularity was incredible, and other sites such as PokerStars and the Everest Poker download had no competition for it. FTP has, obviously, since closed their doors, but PokerStars didn’t forget about Rush Poker’s popularity. And now in 2012 they have launched their own version of Rush Poker called Zoom Poker.

Zoom poker is currently available in Beta form. It is largely the same as Rush Poker, but there are a couple differences. For example, unlike Rush Poker, Zoom allows players to stay at your table to see how a hand turns out rather than jump right to their next table. As of now players can play up to four tables at a time. At the beginning of the Beta stage, Zoom Poker only offered games up to $0.50/$1 in No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. However, just a few weeks into the Beta run, the No Limit Hold’em games were already up to $2.5/$5.

The introduction of Zoom Poker has drummed up quite a bit of interest, and it will certainly continue to do so as they expand the buy-in and game selection. While you’re waiting for PokerStars to add more stakes to Zoom Poker, you should play some real money slots to keep yourself entertained.

Mississippi recently had a bill that would’ve seen legalized and regulated internet gaming within the state borders fall short in a committee vote. Iowa’s Senate passed a bill in their state by a vote of 29-20, but the House of Representatives shot it down for the time being. New Jersey saw their Governor Chris Christie veto an online poker bill. Nothing has been achieved lately on the online poker front in the Garden State and talks have slowed. It looks like it’s going to be a long time before we see legal online casinos for USA players.

Utah has effectively killed the chance of any online poker within its state limits, federal or otherwise. Governor Gary Herbert turned a bill into a law by signing HB108. It makes online poker (and any other online gambling) illegal in Utah. Not only is it officially a misdemeanor crime, the state has also chosen to opt out of any federal internet gambling (if there is an opt out option). For any internet gambling of any sort to happen in Utah, HB108 would have to be overturned. This isn’t a total surprise as Utah has never had any form of gambling anywhere between its borders.

The only state that appears to be moving in a positive fashion would be Nevada, which is not very surprising. The current proposed date of legal intrastate online poker is by the end of the year. There are still sites that cater to Americans at the moment, however, despite the lack of federal legalization. While you’re waiting for legalized poker, you could still always try out a Cake Poker download.

Poker saw an incredible boom in 2003 after Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee, won the World Series of Poker Main Event. Moneymaker had won a satellite into the event, and it made everyone realize that even normal people could become poker champions. The Paradise, PokerStars, and Party Poker download became the next big thing, and Moneymaker even became a PokerStars sponsored pro.

Douglas Tirola has decided to make a documentary highlighting all the major events in poker. It will be called “All In: The Poker Movie”, and a great deal of it will focus on the affect Moneymaker had on online poker. While the high points of online poker will be described in great deal, so will the low points. If you are an online poker player yourself, you will probably know that the biggest low point for US friendly poker sites was Black Friday, which took place on April 15, 2011.

If you watch the movie, you will also get to learn about the history of poker, which many people do not know anything about. There will be lots of information about Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, and other great early players of the game. The movie will describe poker in America, but those outside of the U.S. should still find it interesting as long as they are poker fans.

It is unsurprising that the movie features Damon as he appeared in “Rounders” so many years ago. Many prominent poker players will also be featured, including Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, and Moneymaker (of course).

The movie comes out on March 23rd which is soon, but maybe not soon enough if you are anxiously waiting to see it. If you need something to keep you occupied for a few days, perhaps give 3d slots a try. Those bored by classic slot games might find that the upgrade to 3d makes the experience entirely more fun!

With the online poker landscape in America effectively leveled, just a few viable options remain. Merge Gaming Network, Bovada (formerly Bodog) and the Cake Poker download still offer gaming to players located in America. One of the few other networks to offer said services has now announced plans to pull out of America after a cease and desist order from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

While Everleaf Gaming had dwindled in popularity in the past few years, they still offered gaming to American citizens which netted them some players. Prior to February 2012, the only country that had been prohibited from playing on the Everleaf Gaming Network was Malta. But now both the U.S. and France are prohibited countries.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended with a payment processor of Everleaf Gaming’s being seized. The funds were also seized. Everleaf Gaming is licensed by the Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority. The owners of the network met with the Maltese Licensing Authority and were advised to withdraw from America, which they now have done.

As of the time of the announcement in early February, 2012 American players were still allowed to play on the network. It was yet unknown how American players will get paid, the length of time involved in payments, or when Everleaf Gaming will fully pull out of America.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Department of Homeland Security will go after Merge, Bovada or Cake Poker. Given recent events it seems to be a matter of time.

If you are an American, it might be best to just stick with online video poker for now. There are still several online casinos that still accept U.S. players, and it just might be safer than online poker at the moment.

Washington D.C. was, at one point, primed to be the first in the nation with legalized internet poker within their district limits. However, when the way in which the initial bill was passed came to light, problems began to arise. Greek company Intralot was slated to operate the site. However, details about the company as well as how the contract was awarded to them were muddy at best. This cast further doubt upon the chances of online poker being in Washington D.C.

On February 1st, 2012 the bill was repealed by a count of 3-2 as the city council’s Finance Committee effectively killed Internet slots and other online gambling in Washington D.C. for the time being.

Iowa, on the other hand, is yet another state that is leading the charge towards legalized intrastate gambling. It could be as early as this month that a bill sees the light of day in the Iowa General Assembly. State senator Jeff Danielson is planning to introduce a bill late in February that would legalize online poker in Iowa. Danielson was quoted as saying he believes that “a handful of states will authorize it (online poker)”.

The bill will certainly have its opponents, such as State representative Jeff Kaufmann who believes that gambling negatively affects families. A study done by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission produced an estimate that the state could bring in anywhere from $3 to $13 million per year in tax revenues.

Iowa will be joining states such as California, Florida, Connecticut and New Jersey who are inching towards online casinos for USA players. Nevada currently is the farthest along of any of the states as it is the only one who has passed legislation to date.

The bill to allow online casinos for USA players was passed unnoticed by being written into a budget bill. Congress had nothing to say about the bill during its 30-day objection period. When the bill became law, however, some council members decided that piggy backing off the budget bill was unacceptable and unfair.

One of these council members, Tommy Wells, decided to introduce a bill to repeal this online casino bill. He has been able to convince a couple other council members to back him up, but he has not collected the support of the other ten. The council members supporting this new bill have suggested that they are concerned about the $39 million contract given to Intralot, a Greek lottery vendor.

Officials met in Washington D.C. regarding legal online gambling on January 26th. It was mentioned by lottery officials that when the project is finally given the green light, they hope to offer their games within thirty days. Online video poker is among the many games they hope to have running within a relatively short period of time. Seeing as things have been delayed for longer than usual, they have plenty of time to prepare.

The United States only has two jurisdictions that have approved online gambling so far: Washington D.C. and Nevada. The situation in Washington D.C. has shown that getting it approved, however, is just the first of many steps before the games are finally legally offered. Nevada hopes to have online gambling up and running by the end of this year.

Things aren’t perfect with any business, however, and PokerStars faces its fair share of problems. In fact, PokerStars has experienced a bit of a brain drain in the past year. John Duthie is well known in the poker world as a member of Team PokerStars as well as being the creator of the European Poker Tour. In December 2011 he chose not to renew his contract with PokerStars to pursue other endeavors. Perhaps he will download Roulette and get into the casino business?

Thomas Kremser is also well known in the poker world, as his skills as a tournament director are quite respected. He began his stint as the European Poker Tour tournament director in September 2004. Just a month after Black Friday, however, Kremser severed ties with the European Poker Tour. This sent shockwaves through the poker world.

A similar shockwave has once again been sent through the poker world with the news that the Gabi Campos, the CEO of PokerStars, has given his notice to depart from the online poker giant. Campos spent 3 years in an executive role with 888Poker before joining PokerStars in October 2010. However, after a short stint of 16 months Campos will be wrapping up his duties on February 1, 2012.

PokerStars download officials issued an official statement in mid-January 2012 announcing the departure of Campos. “PokerStars announced today that Gabi Campos has decided to step down from his position as Chief Executive Officer, effective Feb. 1, 2012, to pursue other opportunities. The company thanks Gabi for his hard work and commitment and wishes him the best in all his future endeavors. A search for Gabi’s replacement is under way.”

It remains to be seen whether or not the next PokerStars CEO will come from in-house or perhaps someone else in the industry with prior experience. What is certain is that a rather big void has been left in the past year with the departures of three longtime members of the poker industry. These voids will certainly need to be filled sooner rather than later.