Why I believe there will never be a bill allowing OLP (online poker) at the federal level.
It will require a banking bill to allow money transfers to OLP sites. Not only are any banking bills being rejected out of hand by most Republicans, who say they favor fewer regulations, but by quite a few Democrats who are also courting the moral minority.
Neither party is courting the Free American (but both consider gun rights an attack on American's Freedoms). There is really no compelling reason for either party to 'rock the boat'.
Why and how the States might do this?
It will be easy to regulate within the states the ability to fund OLP via a personal visit to any Casino. This bypasses the UIGEA completely without requiring any Federal Banking Bills whatsoever.
Why would a Casino go along with this? Live bodies in the door is the best argument. I'll guess if 50% of the OLP funders stick around they will drop at least $20 somewhere in that building...be it
slots, or dinner. It also gives each state government an 'in' to who is playing OLP, and for tax purposes the governments might be persuaded to go along, and with licensing policies they could force the
casinos to come along.
I am not sure, but I believe I read somewhere that in general OLP does not affect attendance at Casino's. My gut feeling is that this could easily be a win/win for the Casino's. Casino branded skins into a bigger world-wide network could also generate monies forthe Casino. With local OLP games satelliting into regional live tourneys.
Keep in mind I would prefer it to be as it once was. But the evidence does not point at that ever happening on a Federal level.