The Global Gaming Expo, also known as G2E, was held last week appropriately enough in Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is known as the brick-and-mortar capital of the United States gambling market, but all the talk last week at G2E 2012 was on the virtual world of gambling. As you probably know, Nevada was the first state to legalize online gambling in the form of poker after the United States Department of Justice ruled that each individual state should be allowed to develop their own online gambling destiny in December of last year. Delaware has joined Nevada in offering online gambling, and several states are pushing for that virtual reality as well.

Operating virtual poker rooms and casinos would definitely be a boon to brick-and-mortar casino institutions in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada. No rent would have to be shelled out for expensive casino square footage, the overhead for labor and other costs is drastically lower than running a physical casino, and the income stream continues 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. There’s no doubt that Internet gaming, also called eGaming or I-gaming, for money is the next untouched frontier for casinos. What the new I-gaming infrastructure will look like is unknown, as the first online poker room to legally shuffle up and deal in Las Vegas has not launched yet.

Bally Technologies is a game manufacturer who was the first company to receive an interactive gaming license in Nevada, and spokesman Mike Trask said that the idea for many online poker rooms will be to offer the exact same experience whether online, in the physical casino, on a smartphone when you have ten minutes to spare or “waiting in line at the grocery store.” He said his company is working with brick-and-mortar casinos who have already obtained interactive Nevada gaming licenses to provide just such an experience. With Delaware and Nevada already poised to become leaders in the I-gaming revolution in the US, legislators in California and New Jersey are also pushing to grab a slice of the potentially massive online gambling financial pie.

Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., the chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, says that while a consistent federal piece of legislation covering online wagering in the United States would be nice, individual states are wise to get started before that happens. He is anxious to see more clarity on the legalities of online gambling, which could significantly up the $36 billion a year that brick-and-mortar US casinos take in annually. Meanwhile, companies like Bally and Shuffle Master are anxiously awaiting that first day that online poker becomes a reality in Nevada.

This year’s G2E has been touted by promoters as “the biggest since the 2007 recession,” and while the organizers announced record-breaking attendance, no figures were available. However, floor size was the largest ever with 413 exhibitors covering more than 259,000 square feet. Brand-new slot machines, table games, software and hardware were being hawked by the many paying exhibitors, and Courtney Muller, senior vice president at Reed Exhibitions, one of the G2E companies displaying their wares, said that attendance numbers are tracking ahead of last year’s event.