Summary Internet poker, never fully legal, has been strictly outlawed since 2011.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Poker devotees will soon be able to skip the smoky casino and legally gamble their dollars away on the couch, at least in the state of Nevada.
The site, run by Ultimate Gaming, will accept wagers only from players in Nevada for now, but likely represents the shape of things to come for gamblers across the country. The Las Vegas-based company is expected to launch the first legal, real-money poker website in the United States on Tuesday morning.
Internet poker, never fully legal, has been strictly outlawed since 2011, when the Department of Justice seized the domain names of the largest offshore sites catering to U.S. customers and blacked them out.
This crackdown, dubbed "black Friday," left poker fanatics with two options: They could either get dressed and visit a card room, or break the law and log into an offshore site.
More recently, the federal government softened its stance on Internet betting, and three states, New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada, have legalized some form of online wagering within their borders.
With Tuesday s launch, Nevada wins the race to bring Texas Hold em back to the Internet.
"There was black Friday, and now we re going to have trusting Tuesday, " said Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior. "Players won t have to worry if their money is safe. They are going to be able to play with people they can trust and know the highest regulatory standards have been applied."
The site, UltimatePoker.com, will look familiar to anyone who participated in the poker craze of the 2000s. Only the account setup and login process have changed. Instead of checking a box certifying they are older than 18, players will have to endure a lengthy account setup process involving a Social Security number and a Nevada address. Only those older than 21 will be allowed to play.
Ultimate Gaming and the two dozen other companies still fine-tuning their Nevada poker sites hope they will win the trust not only of players, but of regulators and politicians.
"It s an opportunity to show the world how to properly run online poker," Ultimate Gaming chairman Tom Breitling said.
Several cash-hungry states are weighing legislation that would allow them to tap into what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar market. Some bills would legalize only poker, as Nevada has, while others would throw open the gates to all casino games, including slots, as New Jersey and Delaware have done.
Earlier this year, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval approved legislation that gives him the ability to sign deals with other governors to facilitate interstate Internet gambling.
Online gamblers around the world currently wager an estimated $35 billion each year, according to the American Gaming Association. A fully realized U.S. online poker market could generate $4.3 billion in revenue its first year, and $9.6 billion by year five, according to London-based research firm H2 Gambling Capital.
Still, with federal efforts to legalize Internet poker stalled, it may be a while before a critical mass of states link together to lure professional players back from overseas and drive up jackpots.
