(Don't) Call it a Comeback

It's been here for years.  LL Cool J was way ahead of his time when he decided to write a song about the eventual comeback of Online Poker.
Sure we had to suffer through some bleak years in dealing with the whole government shutdown and ostracization (is this a real word?) of some of our favorite online poker sites but deep down you had to know that a business venture this big was going to end up making a return at some point in time didn't ya?

Now I realize that I'm coming from a little segment of the population that is most likely being treated like the test subject in a lab-rat experiment by living in Las Vegas Nevada and all, but these are just the beginning rumblings of something that is most likely going to be huge and take the nation by storm again.
That's right, I'm talking about the ability to play poker with cash online again.  Let's face it, most of us never quit playing online poker, but it kind of makes you tingle a little bit deep down inside to know that you'll be able to play poker again on a legal well regulated site where you don't have to worry about actually receiving that last cash out or wonder if the site is going to change networks and you'll get stuck with less traffic and game availability.

Currently in Nevada we are up to two new poker sites trying to take the world over, Ultimate Poker and WSOP.com.  Ultimate poker poked their head into the game first and did so in typical "I was here first" fashion by having clunky software and pretty much rushing to the market just to say that they were first.  WSOP took their time and came along quite a bit later but when it was right for them to do so.  Both of these sites gives you a Brick and Mortar casino in which to actually make deposits and receive cash-outs which makes things convenient.

Ultimate Poker is run by the Station Casino's and WSOP is run by Caesars Entertainment which, by my calculations, leaves us with one major casino brand not yet represented in this new online market and that is the MGM/Mirage properties.  Once we have all three of the amigo's up and running (and another state or two joins in) I think that is when things will start to get really interesting with the comeback of online poker.  I truly don't believe that these will be the only players in the game but I do believe that they are the ones who are backed by the best companies to make the best splash.  I still fully expect some other casino owners to jump into the market and maybe even pull some resources by becoming partners with some of the heavy hitters from the heyday of online poker, but that will be a bit more tricky.  Remember, Pokerstars already made one attempt to get back into the United States by putting a bid on a Brick and Mortar casino in Atlantic City so that they could legally operate.  It's only a matter of time before they do it again in Vegas or another company like Party Poker attempts the same thing.

So, Don't call it a comeback because they have all been here for years.  It's just been quiet and there hasn't been a whole lot of noise but make no mistake about it I'm so happy to have online (let me play in my underwear) poker back.