French online gambling company Chiligaming has entered a strategic partnership with the Golden Nugget casinos, Chiligaming has announced in a press release.

The partnership will help position both partners in the face of potential new regulation in the U.S., allowing for a swift launch of online poker when and if new legislation is introduced.

As part of the deal, Chiligaming will launch a play-money online poker site for the Golden Nugget already within the next quarter, in compliance with the current UIGEA legislation.

The Chiligaming platform will come complete with a host of features, including virtual currencies, multiple languages, accessibility via handheld devices, and integration with social media.

"Chiligaming is thrilled to partner with Golden Nugget, which has a very strong brand presence across the U.S.," said Chilligaming CEO and Founder Alexandre Dreyfus.

"With its Las Vegas, Laughlin and Atlantic City properties, it is ideally and uniquely positioned for all of the online developments that lie ahead," he added.

Chiligaming has already been expanding its global presence over the past few months, and has announced a play-money client for U.S. residents to be rolled out in the near future following the opening of a new office in California.

According to Golden Nugget Chairman and owner Tilman J. Fertitta, the company's ambitious expansion plans and focus on potential in new markets made Chiligaming a perfect fit for the casino giant.

"We started an intensive process approximately nine months ago and looked at more than a dozen internet gaming companies and selected Alex and Chiligaming because they were experienced in online gaming in Europe and demonstrated incredible passion, talent and knowledge which our team found to far exceed their competitors," Fertitta said.

The casino boss further said that coming of legal online gambling in the U.S. is "inevitable" and that the new agreement allows for the chain to be "well positioned to compete when U.S. laws allow for online gaming."

The partnership comes of the back of several other high profile partnerships between U.S. casino operators and mainly European online gambling operators - including bwin.party's agreement with MGM/Boyd, and more recently, 888poker's deal with the owners of the WSOP brand, Caesars Interactive Entertainment.