Just recently The US Department of Justice made almost every form of intrastate online gambling legal under Federal law. Sports’ betting is still illegal everywhere besides Nevada.
This was due to some digression about whether New York and Illinois selling lottery tickets to in-state adults violated any of the Federal Wire Act of 1961. The Dept. of Justice clarified the legality of online gambling, stating that interstate lotteries are still illegal, and poker is not a lottery under Federal law.
According to an article at news.google.com there are still several laws written in the Wire Act that are aimed at combating organized crime, much like the great online poker indictment that happened April 2011. On that fateful Friday three prominent online poker sites were seized by the Government and several players and companies lost millions of dollars. Online gambling Expert, and Law Professor at Whittier Law School, Nelson Rose is quoted saying: ““Congress will continue to do nothing while internet gambling will explode across the nation when it is made legal under state laws.” The online gambling industry is a cash cow, one that the Government does not feel the need to cash in on. Taxing and regulating online poker alone would produce around 6 billion dollars in one year. Many officials agree this is just what the “cash-strapped” economy needs, while others argue that by regulating online gambling the Government is essentially placing a “Federal stamp of approval” on the act.
States that have legalized intrastate games such as poker, like Washington DC and Nevada, run the risk of getting in trouble for interstate gambling due to the fact that there is no federal law for online gambling.