Comments (4) | Add a comment
Gaming officials release proposals to regulate Web poker
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
State gaming authorities have released proposed regulations for Internet poker to be implemented if the federal government legalizes the activity.
The proposals, posted to the Gaming Control Board's website Wednesday, include rules for the finding of entity suitability, technology approvals, audit and record-keeping, and customer enrollment.
The proposals also spell out regulatory oversight of internal controls by the online gaming companies and establishes a disciplinary process for regulatory violations.
Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli said the proposals were offered after the Nevada Legislature and Gov. Brian Sandoval approved Assembly Bill 258, which called for the agency to establish Internet poker regulations.
"Internet poker has become a multibillion-dollar business around the world," Lipparelli said in a statement.
"The technology supporting it, while not perfect, has improved dramatically since its introduction. Similar to our land-based requirements, Nevada will establish high standards giving players as much confidence as possible in the entities and technologies that might eventually gain approval," the statement also read.
These proposed regulations will be the subject of a public regulatory workshop process in which amendments and revisions may be offered. The first workshop is set for Sept. 26.
The control board and the Nevada Gaming Commission ultimately must approve the regulations in public hearings.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tried to push through a bill to legalize Internet poker during Congress' lame duck session in December. Reid recently said he believes Internet poker legislation could be approved by Congress, although he wouldn't say whether it could happen this year or before the 2012 elections.
Lipparelli said state gaming authorities want to have Internet poker rules in place so Nevada is ready to begin licensing entities for intrastate gaming.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Well for me, they should give this a chance. Look at the bright side about gambling! It will give revenues to the state. Well casino.williamhill.com is helping UK with wither revenues. I think it will be a good place to get money.
Your first sentence "State gaming authorities have released proposals that would allow the state to regulate Internet poker if the federal government legalizes the activity" is incorrect. The US government has no law against online poker. In fact, a couple of Federal courts have held that the "wire act" doesn't apply and that was the law typically referenced. Also, it isn't up to the Federal government to allow or disallow gaming. That is the right of individual states. If a state decided to authorize online gaming for their citizens the Federal government could not stop it (provided it was limited to residents with valid addresses in that state and maybe from IP locations in that state). Quit acting like people need the blessing of the Federal government. That is a cop out and a delaying tactic.
Nobody knows less about gambling than the Gaming Control Board. They're a bunch of accountants who count money and they've never made a bet in their lives. I'll continue to bet offshore as I have for years. Even if internet poker is approved at the federal level, it will be so over regulated and over taxed that no one will play anyway. The United States is about fifty years behind the rest of the world when it comes to gambling.
lets do this already....