With Delaware becoming the second state to legalize online poker in the US and the first state to pass legislation allowing across-the-board casino gaming online, the US online poker scene is heating up. And as more states take advantage of the US Department of Justice’s declaration that online poker be legislated and regulated on the state level, we are beginning to see more partnerships position themselves in advance of future online poker legislation passage in the US.

Nevada was the first state in the US to legalize online poker within its state boundaries. And Delaware just this past Thursday became the first state to ever pass legislation allowing comprehensive online casino gaming, including keno, slots, blackjack, poker and other traditional casino table game offerings, as well as betting on NFL football games. And to position themselves nationally in a favorable stance to cash in on the newfound legality of online gambling and poker play in many of the US states, Tilman Fertitta’s Golden Nugget Inc. and Landry’s Inc. just this week launched GoldenNuggetPoker.com, an online poker website that offers “free play” gaming.

Now that Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies has received the first ever license for legalized interactive gaming in that Nevada, the suitors have come calling. Companies anxious to cash in on the new-found ability to legally offer an online poker entity in The Silver State now simply need to reach an agreement with Bally rather than apply for and receive their own license. Such a successful partnership was recently reached between Bally Technologies and Landry Gaming’s Golden Nugget property located in downtown Las Vegas. That agreement is to offer an online poker product after the first initial testing process is okayed by licensed Nevada gaming labs.

Companies like Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, operate worldwide and in hundreds of gaming jurisdictions. And they know intimately how to design and test software that provides brick-and-mortar and virtual casinos with their poker and casino games. After the recent ruling by Nevada gaming regulators to bring in independent testing laboratories to test and approve the new Internet poker software proposed by interactive gaming licensees, gaming labs will also play an important part in how fast Nevada and other US states offer actual online poker play.

Spanish native Rafael Nadal is undoubtedly one of the top two or three male tennis players currently, and also one of the most recognized sports stars worldwide. Known as a competitor in everything he does, Nadal recently gave his endorsement of online poker in general, and one online poker site specifically. Obviously, this is a paid endorsement, but having such a recognizable and universally admired athlete playing at the top of his game come forward and endorse online poker is great for the Internet poker community at large.