This is a guest contribution by Martin Owens is an attorney specializing in gaming law. Owens is the co-writer, along with Prof. I Nelson, of the seminal book Gambling and the Law. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

For a long time, American supporters of Internet gambling  predicted rapid legalization and adoption by state governments. One or two key states would legalize Internet gambling, said the prophets, and that would start the avalanche.  State governments would stampede toward the new revenue opportunity.

But the rosy forecasts have not come to pass (I should know; I made a couple myself).

So far, only New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada have passed legislation to actually license legalized Internet gambling. One or two others, like California and Pennsylvania, may or may not eventually come in. But most of the other states haven’t even seriously considered it.