Here’s an interesting development:

3G Studios, a video game developer in Reno, is betting on online gambling.

The private company, with 47 U.S. employees, has hired almost 80 contractors in India and China and expects to have 200 dedicated solely to making gambling games by the end of the year. 3G is one of a handful of game makers jockeying for gambling business, expecting states, hungry for new tax revenue, to open the floodgates for Internet casinos.

Nevada is accepting applications for online gambling licenses, and in June, Delaware became the first state to approve online casino gambling for state residents, starting next year. Other states, including California and New Jersey, are considering loosening the rules for wagering on the Web after the Department of Justice reversed a longtime ban on many types of Internet betting in December.

Word is out that Zynga is also pushing their poker game for the same reasons.

There will be huge competition for poker players if we see national regulation, and the gamer companies will be battling the traditional casino companies.