Zynga Is Trying to Get a Gambling License

Papa needs a new pair of … cows? Zynga yesterday filed the first salvo of paperwork necessary to obtain an online gambling license in Nevada, the Wall Street Journal reports. But don't expect to be betting on Farmville (or more likely titles like Zynga Poker) anytime soon. The document filed yesterday was a request for the state to decide if Zynga is even potentially suitable for a license, and that decision alone is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

It's unclear how long after that final approval would come. The move comes amidst a rapidly changing legal landscape around online gambling. Nevada became the first state to legalize online poker earlier this year. Though it has handed out a few licenses already, none of the companies' online poker games is up and running yet. And when they are, they'll be limited to state residents. But that could soon change: Harry Reid and Jon Kyl are working on a bill that would legalize online poker nationwide and even create an Office of Online Poker Oversight, the Journal reported yesterday. However, the bill would simultaneously ban most other forms of online gambling. (More Zynga stories.)