One of the largest land-based casino conglomerates, Wynne Resorts, recently announced that it had formed a partnership with PokerStars, one of the largest online poker rooms in the world.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Wynn Resorts and PokerStars have declared that they will be working toward the passage of legislation to legalize and regulate online poker at the federal level.

WynnPokerStars.com has now been created as a result of the partnership and will be based in the United States from where it will serve the entire market in the event of poker legislation being passed at the federal level.

Many brick and mortar casinos have come out in favor of legalized online gaming over the past few years as they realize the profitability of the industry instead of seeing the industry as competition to their mega-resorts.

The partnership between PokerStars and Wynn Resorts puts them in a very strong position at the federal level of the current legislation that has been proposed in the state of Nevada and should open up the entire US market to the company.

CEO of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynne, stated that "After much study, we are convinced that the lack of regulation of Internet gaming within the U.S. must change… We must recognize that this activity is occurring and that law enforcement does not have the tools to stop it. As a company that has safely conducted gaming in the U.S. for more than 40 years, we believe that the same can be done for poker on the Internet."

Mark Scheinberg, Chairman of PokerStars, was quoted as saying "(PokerStars) has been endorsing the adoption of the same approach in the United States for years, with this alliance representing a critical step in that direction… We are excited about the opportunities that partnering with Wynn, a pioneering leader and innovator in gaming, will present for PokerStars in the United States."

It would appear as though the US gaming industry that is presently in place will be the first licensees when the industry becomes regulated and it is therefore expected that that many more mergers will occur. These partnerships will give the US gaming industry a ready-made online gaming company together with branding and a player base.