WASHINGTON – Several states and American Indian tribes are pursuing online gambling, Pew Charitable Trusts reports.

While tribes operate 460 gaming facilities in 28 states, none offers online gambling — yet. And currently, only four U.S. states offer legal Internet gambling. But that could soon change, with so much money at stake.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is hoping that New Jersey can generate $1.2 billion a year from legal online gambling.

By the end of this month, the Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe in rural California expects to operate the country’s first tribal online gambling effort. Meanwhile, the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma are also developing a site that will target gamblers from outside the U.S., as Oklahoma allow tribes to launch gambling websites only if they take bets from people outside the United States. And the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is also hedging its bets on online gambling, hoping that more states or the federal government will sanction the activity.

States began legalizing online gambling after the U.S. Justice Department reversed a previous ban in December 2011.