Hayden Sneed is one of Texas poker players who travels more than 120 miles round trip from Plano to play the game he loves. Sneed, 23, said it is a hassle to make the trek across the Red River just for a game of poker. But there may be some good news on the horizon for poker lovers like Sneed. With the help of State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and the Poker Gaming Act of 2013, Texas poker players might finally find Texas Hold ‘Em and other forms of poker legal inside state borders. If the legislation passes before the end…

To the experienced online poker player, Station Casinos’ Ultimate Poker website can feel like a trip back to the Stone Age. Players have complained about the software, interface and speed. Station officials say they are aware of the criticism and are working to improve the site. But despite the glitches, they met their goal: being the first legal, real-money poker site in the country. In fact, Station executives say some of the shortcomings may help them grow their audience. It has been a little more than a week since Ultimate Poker launched in Nevada. Within three days, 100,000 hands had…

From Card Player Wired reported Tuesday that federal prosecutors in Nevada will no longer pursue hacking charges against two men who, in 2009, allegedly found a bug in International Game Technology’s “Game King” video poker device and used the glitch to win a six-figure sum. The case now focuses on a single charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for both. There was a long battle over whether the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act could apply to the case. “The United States of America, by and through the undersigned attorneys, hereby moves this Court to dismiss Counts 2 and 3…

To step into club XS at the Wynn Las Vegas in Sin City is to enter the dream of a modern artist with fetishes for gold and bronze and bodies in motion. A golden-plated frieze made from casts of nude women sits atop a shimmering staircase. Waves of electronic dance music grow louder with each downward step toward a pulsating, football field-sized club where lasers cut the air above thousands of dancers. The revelers take their cues from the famous DJs onstage who are known to surf the crowd in inflatable rafts, throw sheet cakes at clubbers’ faces and spray…

From ABC News With legal gambling now moving beyond the casinos and onto the Internet, the industry is bracing for the most far-reaching changes in its history. A Las Vegas firm, Ultimate Gaming, on Tuesday became the first in the U.S. to offer online poker, restricting it, for now, to players in Nevada. New Jersey and Delaware also have legalized gambling over the Internet and expect to begin offering such bets by the end of this year. And many inside and outside the industry say the recent position taken by the federal government that states are free to offer Internet…

Ultimate Poker has registered thousands of online poker users from every U.S. state and 20 countries. That’s in just 72 hours. By Thursday evening, the website dealt its 100,000th hand of poker. Around 10 p.m., Ultimate Poker had 50 poker tables with action. “I would say we were the largest poker room in the state at that hour,” Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior said Friday. Company officials said the launch of Ultimate Poker, the nation’s first legally regulated pay-to-play online gaming website, has exceeded expectations. Ultimate Poker Chairman Tom Breitling didn’t want to reveal official numbers for the website’s first…

A deal that would have given online-gambling giant PokerStars a chance to re-enter the U.S. market turned into a legal battle Monday as a judge agreed to temporarily block investment firm Colony Capital LLC’s attempt to terminate a casino-sale agreement with the company. A New Jersey Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order that prevents Colony from negotiating with other parties to sell its Atlantic Club casino in Atlantic City, N.J., for 10 days. A hearing is set for May 17, when the judge will consider a lengthier restraining order. PokerStars had agreed last fall to purchase the struggling…

The Illinois Senate on Wednesday approved a gambling expansion bill that allows a new casino in Chicago, four new casinos elsewhere and video gambling at horse-racing tracks. The measure passed 32-20 in the Senate and now goes to the House. If approved there, it would need the governor’s signature. Senate Bill 1739 is similar to bills passed by the General Assembly in 2011 and 2012. Those bills were rejected by Gov. Pat Quinn, who said he wanted any gambling expansion to include more safeguards against corruption. The measure would allow a new casino in Chicago as well as new casinos…