Back in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the United States was one of the most lucrative markets for online casino and poker operators.

Then a legal initiative that was signed into a federal law in 2006, in the last days of the Bush administration, has made it impossible for banks and other financial institutions to operate transactions to and from online gambling operations, thus effectively erasing the US from the global online gambling map. The industry was hit hard by this measure — hundreds of companies have instantly gone out of business, and poker operator PartyPoker reported a 60% drop in its shares’ value the coming day. But it survived and continued to thrive — elsewhere.

Yet Americans still wanted to play casino games and poker online.

With AllJackpotCasino.com and other international destinations out of the picture, they have started to seek out brave (or shady) operators still open for US-based players. Many of these have proven to be bogus over time – some were closed, others saw their owners arrested for fraud, and many have simply descended into oblivion after cheating their customers out of their money. In short, the situation wasn’t peachy for US-based online casino fans.

One of the main pieces of legislation that stood between players and their favorite online slot machines was the Federal Wire Act that was interpreted as a ban on using wired communication measures for transmitting betting-related information.

The Department of Justice ended its reign, asserting that it only referred to sports bets and not other forms of gambling. This opinion instantly gave states the freedom to decide whether they want online casinos and poker rooms within their borders. Three states – Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey – acted on this newfound freedom, and legalized some forms of online gambling.

New Jersey was the first state to legalize online casinos, issuing its first such licenses in 2013. Even though this didn’t open up its markets for international operators like the All Jackpots, it did allow local casinos to expand online. And, while the game variety of the New Jersey gaming venues is still far behind what the All Jackpots has to offer, it is enough to attract many new players to the great online, especially of a younger age. Besides, it is quite the moneymaker for the state — according to reports, last year New Jersey pocketed over $50 million in tax revenues generated by the state’s online casinos and poker rooms alone.

Perhaps it’s the quick money that’s to be made (online gambling venues need to pay up for their licenses) and the long-term potential revenue stream (said operators will pay taxes each year, and have to periodically renew their licenses), more states are now considering the legalization of online gambling. States like Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York are pretty close to pushing through their gambling bills, while others, like California, Massachusetts, and Michigan, have been discussing such legal initiatives for ages. All this in a country where 10 states still have no land-based casinos, by the way.

This year, more Americans might have a legal, local online gambling venues to play at, funding their own states’ development in the process. Is this a good thing or a bad one?