Politicians in the state of Colorado are reportedly looking to legalize and regulate online poker within their state borders, potentially making the state the fourth in the United States to legalize the cyber game.
The report comes from various sources, including gaming industry officials as well as politicians. The state had previously introduced a bill, but that measure stalled out in the state's legislature, becoming little more than a pipe dream. There appears to be renewed interest in the measure though, and a bill could be debated and voted on in 2014.
Commenting on the potential bill, Colorado Gaming Association Executive Director Lois Rice said, "We had talked very late in last year's session with some legislators who were interested in pursuing it. We're still exploring it."
Colorado State Representative Kevin Priola added: "My thought and some others' thoughts were, let's have Colorado as close to the starting line as we can possibly be because as soon as the gates open, I think there are only going to be a few states that are going to have enough scale to make it work."
Currently, only the states of New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware offer regulated online poker products in the United States. If Colorado legalizes poker, it may have to create gambling compacts with other states in order to increase player pools, as the state's population is only 5 million.
Casino Listings will update this story as more developments arise.