Nevada’s online poker industry has not done as well as expected and Delaware has also had to deal with a sluggish online gambling market. One of the main reasons behind this is  strict state regulations which only allow online poker players to play from within the borders of the respective states.

The slow growth and turnover of the online gambling market can be attributed to small player pools, a lack of competition and low cash prizes. In order to address these issues, the governors for both states decided to join forces and create an intrastate player pool back in Feb 2014.

A historic agreement was made when Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Jack Markell,  governor of Delaware decided to create the first legal intrastate online gambling network in the United States. Online poker players in both states were excited and expected the network to start operating in 2014.

Brian Sandoval recently confirmed that all of the legal and technical issues required for the successful implementation of an intrastate network were finally in place and online poker players from both states can expect to play against each other towards the end of April.

The new regulations will only permit gambling companies licensed in both states to pool players for intrastate tournaments. As of now, WSOP in Nevada and 888 in Delaware will be the only companies authorized to provide services. Delaware will most likely benefit the most from this deal as the state’s online gambling market is relatively small when compared to Nevada’s.

The final approval of the gambling network could also see the launch of the All American Poker Network (AAPN) 888’s network that is licensed in Delaware and New Jersey.