On December 23, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it has reversed a long-held position by stating that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting, and does not include online casino games or online poker. This marks a major change in policy for DOJ, which has long contended that the Wire Act prohibits all forms of online gambling, including poker.

What this means is that the door is now open for legalization of intrastate poker but more importantly, interstate online poker or even federal legalization of online poker throughout the United States!

We are hopeful that US poker players will soon have many more online poker options over the coming year!