Christmas came a little early for online poker players this year. On Friday, just two days before Santa delivers presents around the world on some sort of magical sleigh, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an opinion letter stating that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting. Seemingly, internet poker and state lotteries, among other activities, are clear of the 1961 law. Following the announcement, several organizations in our industry had a chance to weigh in. Read the opinion.

The American Gaming Association, or AGA, published a statement on its website late Friday afternoon that read in part, “The Department of Justice’s interpretation regarding the scope of the Federal Wire Act validates the urgent need for Federal legislation to curb what will now be a proliferation of domestic and foreign, unlicensed, and unregulated gaming websites without consistent regulatory standards and safeguards against fraud, underage gambling, and money laundering.”

The AGA represents the commercial casino industry. Its membership includes the likes of Ameristar Casinos, Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, Churchill Downs, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, MGM Resorts International, and Shuffle Master. Many of its clientele have applied for online poker licenses in Nevada and now, seemingly not in violation of the Wire Act, could launch Web poker as early as 2012.

The AGA added that it advocates a Federal solution, as opposed to a state-by-state licensing regime: “Federally-mandated protections are vital no matter the interpretation of the Wire Act, and they must be enacted in order to avoid a patchwork quilt of state and tribal rules and regulations that would prove confusing for customers and difficult for law enforcement to manage.”

Also encouraging Congress to act was the Poker Players Alliance, or PPA. In a press release distributed to close out the week, PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato (pictured) argued, “State-by-state licensing and regulation could result in a balkanized online poker world where players across the nation would be limited in their choices of where and against whom they could play. This could potentially reduce the number of total players, reducing revenues state lawmakers project from this activity.”

D’Amato added that a state-by-state licensing framework could also mean high barriers to entry for potential operators: “It would deter entrepreneurs from entering the online poker market, as there would essentially be 50 different sets of laws and rules to which they would have to adhere.”

Whether 50 different internet gaming markets will exist isn’t known. Shedding light on that matter was an attorney for Fertitta Interactive, which is tied to Station Casinos and briefly partnered with Full Tilt Poker.

The legal counsel for Fertitta told CardPlayer on Friday that states could, in theory, network together given the DOJ’s proclamation: “It is now conceivable that states can get together and try a compact, which is an agreement between the states to offer wagering. That has happened in the past with regards to non-internet based wagers, for example the state lotteries. Now, this will obviously require some negotiations between the states as to how you handle tax matters and those things.”

Also weighing in on the DOJ’s opinion letter was U.S. Digital Gaming, whose General Counsel, Melissa Riahei, told the press, “This opinion is a game-changer – it opens up the door to endless possibilities not only for the lottery industry, but for the entire gaming industry. The DOJ has finally confirmed what we believed in Illinois to be true all along – that intrastate gambling is an issue that is within the sole discretion of a state to regulate, as it deems appropriate.”

On Black Friday in April, you’ll remember that the DOJ invoked the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA) and Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), not the Wire Act, when indicting 11 internet gaming personnel. Whether Web gaming could now be permitted under the UIGEA given Friday’s Wire Act interpretation is unclear. Also unclear is whether poker constitutes a “sporting event” under the Wire Act.

What is obvious, however, is that Friday’s ruling could spark states, or the Federal Government, to legalize online poker or other forms of internet gaming besides sports betting, in the early part of 2012. Visit our ongoing thread in Poker Communityto talk about the big news, which you can read in its entirety by clicking here. In addition, all of us at PocketFives wish you a very Merry Christmas.