Indian Casinos to Have Legal Online Poker in U.S.

Legal internet poker is coming to the United States, at least on tribal land. In a press release today, Atlantis Internet Group Corp. announced a licensing agreement with Cake Gaming NV which will allow Native American casinos across 30 states to legally play poker online. Cake Poker is one of the faster growing poker networks worldwide and, according to the PR is:

Now, backed by the legal opinion of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) for its patent pending “Casino Gateway Network” (CGN), ATIG is poised to establish a private gaming network on Indian Lands. This revolutionary technology will allow tribal casinos to offer a form of Internet poker across state lines.

Currently the UIGEA is trying to put an end to internet gambling in the United States. In the legislation however there are exceptions and for Indian Casinos, Intertribal Internet gaming and states that pass Intrastate Internet gaming legislation.

Currently $30 billion is generated worldwide in the internet gambling industry and that does not include U.S. based players. It is widely excepted that prior to the UIGEA, two-thirds of online gambling revenue came from the U.S. and now it seems if the U.S. government is not interested in that revenue, the Native American Tribes are.

Donald L. Bailey, CEO of ATIG said,

“Our Indian version of the CGN, called the ‘Tribal Gaming Network’ (‘TGN’) offers an immediate and legal solution to Indian casinos nationwide, providing the largest online poker network in the U.S. This is a significant milestone for ATIG and Cake, and will become an immediate economical shot in the arm for Tribes and states facing deficits nationwide.”

So what happens if the bill recently marked up by the Financial Services Committee passes and overturns the UIGEA? The ATIG’s system can easily adapt to the more traditional casinos and almost immediately implemented when it will be needed.