Speaking to Vegas Increcently, MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren called the prospects of a U.S. Federal internet gambling bill “all but a lost opportunity.” Murren told the gaming news website, “It looks to us that [legalized online poker is] all but a lost opportunity for the Federal Government and that we will be where we are today in a state-by-state environment.”

To date, only two legal and regulated online poker sites have launched in Nevada: WSOP.comand Ultimate Poker. The state has only embraced online poker, as opposed to full internet gambling like New Jersey and Delaware. The CEO told Vegas Inc why MGM has not jumped into the online poker fire: “We have not launched because we have taken the view that poker-only here is not a profitable enterprise. There’s not enough liquidity in our state. Our company has always preferred… a Federal effort on poker.”

Ultimate Poker and WSOP.com are virtually dead even when it comes to cash game traffic, according to PokerScout, and sit at #36 and #37 worldwide, respectively. The numbers: a seven-day running average of 133 real money ring game players for Ultimate Poker and a seven day-running average of 123 real money ring game players for WSOP.com.

The two sites are also in the midst of running full-blown tournament series: UPC2on Ultimate Poker and the Online Championships on WSOP.com. The latter held its Main Event on Saturday, while the former is just a few days removed from the finale of UPC1.

Murren summarized, “The best solution for our state is for Nevada to exert its rightful leadership as a regulatory jurisdiction, that it needs to have a full complement of games and be able to compact with other states to increase liquidity pools… I think that will happen.” We’ve heard rumors of possible liquidity sharing among Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada, but no concrete agreements have been implemented.

In late 2011, almost exactly two years ago, MGM and bwin.party, the parent company of bwinand PartyPoker, announced a joint venture contingent on regulated online poker coming to fruition. According to a bwin.party press release at the time, “Several bills to regulate, license, and tax online poker in the U.S. have been introduced at both a Federal and state level, each of which are at various stages in the political process. While there is no certainty that online poker legislation will be enacted in the U.S., bwin.party is preparing to enter into a preliminary suitability review in the State of Nevada.”

Regulated internet gambling in New Jersey is set to debut on November 26. Visit PocketFives’ New Jersey poker community for more details.

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