By Joseph Menn

Nov 8 (Reuters) - The state of New Jersey granted its first online gambling licenses to several big international gaming companies on Friday, dramatically speeding their re-entry to the lucrative U.S. market.

New Jersey joins Nevada and Delaware in permitting online poker and it is more populous than those states. New Jersey also will allow its residents to play electronic versions of other casino games.

Bills to legalize online gambling are pending in California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and more states are likely to follow, eventually letting residents of those states gamble against people in other regulated states.

New Jersey's action also is a landmark for the issue of suitability, in which regulators weigh the conduct of the online gaming companies before allowing them into an industry with historic corruption.

State gaming authorities gave "transactional waivers," which do not preclude additional regulatory scrutiny, to companies including the parent of PartyPoker, which dominated online cash card games in the United States for years.

PartyPoker pulled out of the U.S. market in 2006, when Congress strengthened federal gambling. It later paid $105 million in a non-prosection agreement with the U.S. Justice Department and admitted violating wire fraud and other statutes before the 2006 law took effect.

Other recipients of waivers on Friday were 888 Holdings , and the online affiliate of Las Vegas' Caesars' Entertainment Corp.

Two controversial PartyPoker co-founders are divesting their stakes in order to get their company back into the United States.

New Jersey did not approve PokerStars, a company that kept going in the United States after Congress' 2006 law on internet gambling.

PokerStars spokesman Eric Hollreiser said the company's New Jersey application "remains under review" and that "we remain committed to working with them to complete the process." Both PokerStars and PartyPoker's parent, Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, had focused their licensing efforts on New Jersey.

"We're excited to see the launch of internet gaming in New Jersey," said American Gaming Association Chief Executive Geoff Freeman. "New Jersey will send a strong message to all states."

Even with online casinos outlawed, Americans contribute an estimated $3 billion to a roughly $33 billion world market, Freeman said.

Combined with recent actions in other states, the New Jersey decision suggests it could be hard for PokerStars to reach the American market.

Last year, the Isle-of-Man-based company forfeited $731 million to settle U.S. government fraud claims and acquire rival Full Tilt poker, which shut down after a similar lawsuit. U.S. authorities also filed criminal charges against the founders of both companies.