With billionaires and casino companies rushing to get ready for the potential of regulated online gambling in America, MGM Resorts on Monday announced an online poker alliance with Bwin.party digital entertainment, which owns PartyPoker, the second-biggest online poker service in the world, and the World Poker Tour.

FORBES: MGM Resorts Strikes Online Poker Deal With Bwin.Party

The MGM deal, which is contingent on a regulatory regime being established for online poker on either the federal or state level, helps define the competitive landscape as casino companies get ready to enter the online gambling business in the U.S. Boyd Gaming also announced on Monday that it has entered into an online poker alliance with Bwin.party.

FORBES: MGM Resorts Strikes Online Poker Deal With Bwin.Party

Notably, the announced deals only cover online poker, even though Bwin.party has strong online casino offerings.

FORBES: MGM Resorts Strikes Online Poker Deal With Bwin.Party

Zynga has made clear its interest in real money gaming for some time, and in October announced a partnership with U.K.-based bwin.party to offer online poker and other real money games in the U.K. in the first half of 2013.

FORBES: Zynga Looks To Gamble On Nevada

When the company tried to take advantage of the April U.S. shutdown of PokerStars and Full Tilt, Bwin.party found that while some new European players were attracted to its poker brands, revenues remained flat.

FORBES: Bwin.Party Bets On America Again

Bwin.party will form a joint venture with MGM and Boyd to offer online poker in regulated U.S. jurisdictions.

FORBES: MGM Resorts Strikes Online Poker Deal With Bwin.Party

In addition, the deals call for Bwin.party to license its technology to both MGM and Boyd, which also plan to offer online poker under their brands.

FORBES: MGM Resorts Strikes Online Poker Deal With Bwin.Party