Nevada, Delaware, NJ go live
Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey launched the first US-regulated real-money online gambling.
In 2013 three states brought online gambling back inside a licensed framework. Nevada's Ultimate Poker launched real-money online poker on 30 April 2013 (the first regulated US site); Delaware opened the first full online casino and poker suite in November 2013; and New Jersey launched a six-operator market on 26 November 2013. Each used geolocation to keep play within state lines.
Enabled by the 2011 Wire Act opinion, Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey passed laws and stood up regulated intrastate markets. Nevada restricted itself to online poker, Delaware offered a state-run full-casino model, and New Jersey — the largest of the three — allowed casino and poker tied to Atlantic City licensees. Operators deployed geolocation and identity checks to confine wagering to players physically inside each state. These launches established the US template of state-by-state regulation and, through the later Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, the first interstate shared player pools. New Jersey in particular became the proving ground for the large regulated US online market that followed the 2018 sports-betting ruling.
These were the first legal, regulated US online gambling markets, setting the state-by-state model that governs American iGaming today.
A teaching summary, not legal advice. Dates and figures are simplified for learning; confirm against the primary sources before relying on them.