There has been a lot of activity recently around legislation targeted towards online gambling sites. There are many arguments on either side, but it looks like decisions are moving forward.
This Wednesday, the Iowa State Senate Governmet Committee passed a bill that would legalize online gambling in the state. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs stated he believes online gambling has a 50/50 chance of passing the State Senate, which are better than he believes the chances of it passing through the State House.
Other states, including most recently Mississippi and California have drafted online gaming legislation as well. This coming on the heals of the District of Columbia, the first US jurisdiction to legalize onlinepoker, deciding to repeal their online gaming legislation last month. Council member Michael A. Brown states he will reintroduce the legislation at some point.
Online poker has already been legalized in Nevada forcing casinos to scramble to get licenses and sites running in the state this year. Casinos generally look at the expansion of online gaming a threat to their business, unless they can capitalize on it themselves.