The online gaming industry continues to push for US legislation, as more casino operators apply for interactive licenses in Nevada. As states wouldn?t allow internet gambling across state lines, advocates are seeking federal regulation to initiate a highly anticipated online poker industry.
Since the US Department of Justice (DoJ) overturned the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 last year that had prohibited online gambling in the country, the industry has been readying its launch.
Nevada is ahead of the game and there are now 12 interactive license holders in the Silver State, with the majority of large casino operators licensed or in the application process, said AG Burnett of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).
Licenses come in three forms, one for the operator of an online casino or poker room, another is for an interactive system manufacturer, and the third is for those who develop or license products associated with the online offering. Casino operators are looking to gain a first-mover advantage in the potentially lucrative market by building in-house interactive divisions or partnering with technology companies.
Under Nevada regulations, the main operator of a website must be a casino company that holds an existing gaming license in the state. Gaming operators can be authorised to provide software or other technological services. State-approved test labs, such as GLI and BMM, will be authorised to approve vendors? technology, to ensure systems are fully capable of identifying players by location and age.
Play would be limited to gamblers within Nevada state lines, although most operators are expected to supply more and more states as legislation unfolds. Geo-location software would be implemented to ensure websites or online casinos added onto existing websites would only be accessible within the state.
NGCB has been accepting applications for a year now and urges congress to pass legislation. However, analysts indicate that no bill in its current form is ready to become law. Nevada could also prove to have an unfair advantage and gain an instant monopoly over the sector. But by leaving the ban in place would keep bricks-and-mortar operations as the core source of the nation?s gambling activity, and centralised in Las Vegas.
The proposed law, currently being worked on by Nevada Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Whip Jon Kyl, includes a passage indicating that states should not be free to construct their own gaming schematics, but regulation should be enacted at federal level. This legislation only permits online poker, which would not be the only games states seek to offer their residents.
If the bill becomes law, large corporations will quickly be able to snap up the lion?s share of the nation?s online gaming pie, with most of the companies based in Nevada.
Land-based operators such as the Atlantis, Eldorado and Siena already have the financial controls, licenses and systems in place to ensure each process conforms with Gaming Control Board standards.
Monarch was one of the first casino operators to be licensed and now seeks to partner with a technology provider to develop software and run the back-end operations of a new online poker room.
David Farahi, Monarch Casino Resort CEO, said, ?Gaming is a form of entertainment, and people come to a casino because they want to be entertained. We work hard at doing that, and being able to entertain someone in their living room playing on their computer is just another form of entertainment.?
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