So what if Yahoo no longer advertises for online casinos anymore? It seems the mega search engine is doing some online casino gambling of its own, now that it has announced its readiness to premiere its next multi-player generation games, which include a customizable Texas Holdem poker game.

Scheduled for unveiling at the E3 Expo, Yahoo! Games will be catering to mobile gamers, making its new version one of the first to offer live gaming through both mobile phones and PC's in the U.S.  In particular, the Texas Holdem game is expected to become a big hit.  The interface allows ten players to join up in poker matched from multiple PC's and/or mobile phones at the same time.  It also lets player's customize virtual players with a highly graphic software package.

Considering some 20 million Americans visited an online casino in February 2005 alone (according to NetRatigns), and "only" lost $4.1 billion in all of 2004 - as opposed to losses of $72.8 billion at legal gambling activities in the U.S. - many companies are beginning to test the waters, no matter the possible but unlikely repercussions.

Look for Yahoo's new poker game to come out this summer in Sprint mobile phone handsets and in Yahoo! Games for PC's along with Yahoo's entire selection of fun games.