For a while now, we’ve been wondering where the first intrastate online poker market in the U.S. would be created. Would it be Nevada? New Jersey? California? Florida? Iowa? It appears that none of those is the winner, however, as legalized online poker has seemingly become a reality in Washington, DC. According to the Wall Street Journal, we might be seeing a DC Lottery-run online poker site take shape by the end of 2011.

The Journal recapped the background to the nation’s first intrastate online poker system: “The city council approved a budget last year allowing the district’s lottery to operate a poker website accessible only inside district boundaries. City officials say the window for Congress to raise objections to the law was due to expire Thursday [April 7th], allowing it to take effect.” The District’s budget also allows for a fantasy sports site.

The man responsible for the provision is City Councilman Michael Brown, who told the Journal why it was inserted into the budget last year: “I figured that online poker was already happening here, and we just want to capture some of those revenue dollars. Every little bit helps.” Washington, DC could bring in as much as $13 million over the next three years should an online poker site take shape.

Whether we’ll actually see a lottery-run site remains to be seen. There are still several hurdles facing it, the Journal noted, including the Department of Justice, which did not comment to the news outlet on whether it would take issue with an online poker site. Historically, laws like the Wire Act of 1961 have applied to online wagering on sports.

The 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, prohibited financial transfers to “unlawful internet gambling” sites, but failed to specify what the three-word phrase meant. Besides the Department of Justice taking aim at the DC Lottery’s site, other obstacles include ensuring that the proper technology is in place to prevent residents in nearby Maryland and Virginia from playing.

Meanwhile, the DC Lottery is attempting to reverse a trend of four years of declining revenues.

If you’re planning a trip to the nation’s capital, don’t expect to be firing up Full Tilt Pokerat the Capital Grille anytime soon, however. The Journal shared a timeline of when we could see a site come to fruition: “The lottery hopes to have the poker system operating in a test run available in certain select spots, such as hotels, by the end of the year.”

In March, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (pictured) vetoed a bill that would have created the first intrastate internet gambling framework in the U.S. The legislation in question sailed through both chambers of New Jersey’s legislature, but the Senate and Assembly did not attempt to override Christie’s veto.

Christie asked the legislature to take up the issue and then send it on to voters in the form of a referendum in November. However, no referendum has taken shape.

In Iowa, a bill legalizing online poker appears to be dead in the water, at least for this year, while legislation in Nevada proposed by Assembly Majority Whip William Horne was discussed in the Nevada Assembly Committee on Judiciary in late March. The bill, which reportedly has sites like PokerStars behind it, is numbered AB 258.

Also making headlines in recent weeks was news that three online poker rooms had forged relationships with U.S. companies with ties to casino gambling. PokerStars inked a deal with Wynn Resorts to launch PokerStarsWynn.com when and if internet gambling were to be legalized and regulated in the United States.

Full Tilt Poker responded by partnering with the owners of Station Casinos, while 888forged a deal with Caesars Entertainment to expand the World Series of Poker brand in the U.K.

Keep up to date with the latest by visiting the Poker Legislation forum.