If you’re an avid online poker player and are just waiting for the District to flip the switch on its planned first-in-the-nation Internet gambling program, you might be waiting for a while.

Photo by Images_of_Money Three D.C. Council members have declared their intent to re-examine the $38 million D.C. Lottery contract to launch online poker in the District. Their announcement comes after the Washington Times found that a July 2010 request by two former D.C. Cabinet officials to Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby to investigate the contract was met with inaction. Much of the consternation stems from the lack of public vetting of the bidding process…

A perfect storm of circumstances seem to be coming together, clearing a path and raising hopes for online gambling to appear in D.C.

D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown tweeted Wednesday that a date has been set for the Finance and Revenue Committee to hold a hearing on June 29 pertaining to “DC Lottery’s plans to offer online games.” The hearing stems from an stealthy amendment to a supplemental budget bill that passed the council in April this year, which allows the D.C. Lottery to provide online gambling services withing District limits.

Get ready to gamble, D.C.: a measure allowing the D.C. Lottery to administer online “games of skill and games of chance” — passed by the D.C. Council as part of an adjustment to the fiscal year 2011 budget in December — has now officially made it through the 30-day Congressional review period and will soon be placed on the books.

These days, working for the federal government doesn’t seem as safe a bet as it once did. Yet come Thursday, you may be able to switch one profession for another.

Last December, the D.C. Council passed a proposal in the approved budget that allows the D.C. Lottery to offer online “games of skill and games of chance” — that includes online poker. Of course, only those within the district’s limits will be allowed to play. City officials say that this coming Thursday marks the last day for Congress to raise objections and impose its rule over city affairs. Of course, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah has already chimed in when the budget first passed, saying he was “absolutely, totally opposed” to the idea.