As it stands today, online gambling is prohibited in the United States. The land based casinos are the benefactors of this. But these casino operators know that the industry is heading in another direction, and so they are preparing for the day after.

It is one thing to be preparing for offering online gambling to Americans for when UIGEA is reversed. But news from two of the biggest casino operators, MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment, have it that they are preparing for catering to other markets even before then.

In what will surely raise more criticism of the American hypocrisy, the companies are said to target member countries of the European Union and Caribbean countries too. Companies that operate from these countries, however, are not allowed to serve American gamblers.

If and when this happens, it will not be the first time American companies have entered the online gambling world. MGM has already launched a site once, in 2001, located in the Isle of Man, but which turned out to be a flop for various technical reasons.

This time, besides a better product, we can only hope, the companies are focused on poker sites specifically. Poker is not only the more promising and popular gambling form, but also expected to be legalized before other casino game sin the US.