By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun

A prominent gaming attorney said he doesn’t expect an online poker bill to be passed anytime soon, even though the demand is present, states are clamoring for tax revenue and sufficient technological safeguards would be in place to prevent underage players from gambling.

I. Nelson Rose, a distinguished senior professor at the Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., said he’s pessimistic about the passage of legislation because federal lawmakers this session have demonstrated they can’t come to an agreement on any significant legislation.

Rose was a speaker Thursday at a two-day conference on online gaming law at Aria. Many of Southern Nevada’s leading gaming attorneys are attending the conference, which features scholars, regulators and legal experts on topics ranging from the prospects of passage of online gaming legislation to the obstacles European online gaming companies will have partnering in ventures in the United States if and when Internet gambling is approved.

Rose said there are many potential pathways for the legalization of online gaming, and he listed six states that have the lead in exploiting online poker once approved.

In addition to Nevada, which is expected to approve online gaming regulations and standards next month, Rose named New Jersey, Iowa, California, Florida and Massachusetts as having the inside track. New Jersey and Iowa already have regulatory regimes in place, and the other three states have large populations or strong gaming cultures.

Other states that could exploit online poker, if approved, include Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Most of those states have either strong tribal gaming centers or active commercial gaming.

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