Nevada, in the month of April 2013, became the first US State that allowed its residents to play online poker for money, legally. Online Poker gained legitimacy in Nevada in February 2013. Other states that will legalise online poker soon in US are Delaware and New Jersey.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board issued the 30-day license to enable the websites for competing against each other for the customers. The first legal online poker website to go live in Nevada is UltimatePoker.com. Ultimate Poker is the subsidiary of Station Casinos that operate 16 casinos in Las Vegas.
US authorities claimed that online gambling can generate billions of dollars. Every year, around 10 million US citizens play online poker. However the sites are all offshore, which means that federal authorities as well as state make no money at all.
US had imposed a ban on online gambling in 2006, but the rules could be relaxed now.