An interesting year for the online poker community is getting even more interesting. Ever since the December announcement from the US Department of Justice changing their stance on the usage of the Wire Act of 1961, the poker world has been turned upside down. Many are excited over the potential of having a new regulatory environment for playing poker online, either in major states or at the federal level.

Of course many are hoping for federal legislation, and that’s making for some very interesting political bedfellows. The most interesting involves Harry Reid and Dean Heller, the two Senators from Nevada. Naturally, both of them have a huge interest here, as the casinos corporations in that state have a serious stake in the matter. But Reid is a Democrat and majority leader in the Senate, and Heller is a Republican who is up for election this year, with Reid naturally backing his Democratic challenger. The article lays out how they’re both working to get poker legislation passed, but it’s a delicate matter and both sides want it to happen without benefiting the other side too much politically. Like I said, the issue is creating strange bedfellows.

Something will happen here eventually. The states are anxious to move on this, as many people agree that poker is a game of skill, and states would like to get a cut by regulating the game.