Sometimes karma can bite you in the butt.

World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart [recently] experienced that pain.

Recently, Stewart made light of early troubles that befell Ultimate Poker, the first legal pay-to-play online gambling website in the U.S., which launched April 30.

First, Ultimate was caught using an unlicensed and much maligned service provider to identify new players. Then, a glitch in the website caused two 9 of spades to appear on the flop in a game of hold’em.

“I think the market is ready for a first-class product,” Stewart told Case Keefer of the Las Vegas Sun while touting the World Series of Poker’s planned Nevada-based pay-to-play website.

Last week, the World Series of Poker suffered its own glitch. The unlicensed website briefly went live, letting players gain access to the pay-to-play area.

Caesars Interactive Entertainment, which owns the World Series of Poker, caught the mistake, shut down the site, and notified Nevada gaming regulators.

The laughter you’re hearing emanates from the corporate headquarters of Station Casinos, majority owner of Ultimate Gaming, which operates Ultimate Poker.

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An Indiana lawmaker wants to protect the Hoosier State’s casino industry, which was the nation’s third-largest commercial gaming market by revenue in 2011.

Ten of Indiana’s 13 casinos are in counties adjacent to Illinois, Michigan and Ohio – states that have provided Indiana casinos with a wealth of customers.

Not anymore.

Those patrons no longer have to cross state lines to satisfy their gambling fix. Over the past 24 months, casino expansion in neighboring states has caused Indiana gaming revenues to decline.

In 2011, Indiana’s 13 casinos collected $2.721 billion in gaming revenues, a 2.5 percent drop from 2010. In October, gaming revenues statewide suffered their largest percentage decrease since January 2008.

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