With the new President Obama’s inaugaration coming up in January, the American Gaming Association is convinced that the new office will be a more gambling-friendly party. The AGA is motivated and quickly getting ready to put forth and strengthen their position to get internet gambling legalized and regulated in the United States.

During President Bush’s office term, there were countless lobbying groups and efforts made to put forth a case for the legalization of online gambling, however, those efforts never picked up enough steam. This is despite heroic efforts of many special interest groups and lobbyists showing their support, such as the SSIGI (Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative) and IGcouncil.

There are barriers and conflict of opinion strife throughout the process though, on many fronts. For instance, there are varying opinions with the big players in the brick and mortar casino industry - some would like to see it regulated on a state level, while others on a federal level. There are others though, who fear the online competition will drain their business, so therefore they are vehemently against the regulation and legalization of their online counterparts. Giants like MGM Mirage and Harrah’s, however, are in favor.

The American Gaming Association has also proposed a bill that would launch an immediate and official study on the benefits of legalizing internet gambling and whether or not it was fit for legislation. Critics of this bill say that the American Gaming Association may be weakening it’s stance with this conservative approach, but supporters say it’s a huge step in the right direction.

At the Global Gaming Expo in early November, expert panels talked about how much more successful an attempt to focus on online poker would be then other gambling games, considering poker is widely believed to be a game of skill. The PPA or Poker Players Alliance has made a huge impact on the awarenes of online poker as a skill based game that should be legalized through their various lobbying efforts. Sports Betting is not even in the talks right now due to the US Wire Act.

As pressure grows to bring in more national tax dollars in a weakening economy, and with increased lobbying, steps in the right direction now could lead to a much brigther future. This comes in tune with people’s realization that no U.S citizen has been arrested for gambling online since new regulations in 2006. Now, a large base of US gamblers are finding their way back online to poker and casino sites welcoming them with open arms - all without a tax dollar going to the U.S government.