Epic Wynn?

(With all apologies to my colleague Chris Hall for lifting his pun. You were right. It's a good one.)

Yesterday Wynn Resorts -- yes, that Wynn -- announced a partnership with PokerStars. The two companies will work together to secure passage of federal-level regulation for online poker in the United States. Assuming that regulation occurs, they'll then seek out a license to jointly operate an online poker site under the name PokerStarsWynn.com.

Steve Wynn, the Chairman of Wynn Resorts, had long been against any form of online gambling, one of the few operators in the Vegas space that held that view. The largest, like Caesars and MGM, have been pro-online gambling for a while; many others were at least neutral. That Wynn has now shifted his stance all the way in favor of online gambling is sea change.

Back in December I said that I expected 2011 would reveal who is making what bets on online poker in the United States. We now have a savvy entrepreneur and highly influential member of the Vegas gambling community aligning himself on the side of regulation. And let's not forget that Stars isn't some fly-by-night operation that most have never heard of. It's the world's largest online poker site not named Zynga Poker. In America, as the money goes so goes the policy.

I did find one sentence of the LVRJ article amusing: "Wynn said he is now convinced Internet gaming is taking place in the U.S. and it's time to legalize the activity." Only now Steve? What took so long? I know your vision isn't the best but come on!

Seriously though, file this one under G for "good for poker".