In recent years, legislators at both the federal and state levels have loosened their stance related to online gaming. After the federal government paved the way for states to start making its own decisions related to this type of gaming, Delaware became the first state to step up and embrace online gambling for it citizens. This occurred when the state's legislature passed the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012, which was finally signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jack Markell in June of that year. Eight months later, New Jersey followed suit when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Rep) signed a similar bill to legalize online poker and casino gambling in his state.

In February of this year, the Governors of both states entered into an agreement that allows poker sites to distribute the same online poker product to both Delaware and Nevada, setting the stage for poker players from both states being able to gamble at the same virtual tables simultaneously. This is the first pact of its kind in the United States and it opens the door for more states to join forces as online gaming makes its way throughout the country.

In a statement released by Governor Markell, he said "This agreement represents a crucial step in Delaware's and Nevada's efforts to make our online poker offerings more diverse, more competitive, and ultimately more enjoyable." While there are certain details that still need to be worked out related to the administration of this new agreement, both states have agreed to maintain responsibility for collecting mandated gaming taxes related to the players from each of its respective states.

One of the major issues that needs to be addressed in the monitoring and controlling of access to the poker sites licensed to operate within each state. Only players who are physically located in one state or the other will be authorized to gamble on these sites and each state will have the responsibility to implement security measures to assure the laws are not circumvented. This will most likely become an IT issue where URL addresses within each state will be the only ones granted access.

Currently, Nevada is the only other state to have legislation on the books legalizing online forms of gambling. With an agreement such as this one, other states will be watching closely to see how such an agreement might impact state revenues and the overall welfare of the states that have moved forward with such legislation. It will also be interesting to see if Nevada Governor Brian Edward Sandoval (Rep) shows any interest in trying to make this new pact a tri-state endeavor.

For prominent online casino owners such as Caesars Entertainment Corporation who runs WSOP, this agreement creates a great opportunity to offer a better poker product to players in both states. By combing the number of players now available to participate in the same games, Caesars anticipates being able to improve its prize structure on major tournament events and to be able to offer a better variety of games. With these kinds of improvements, the company anticipates a healthy increase in revenues from its interactive business operations.