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Nevada to Let Public Decide on Net Gambling?
State panel will address Web wagering at meeting
By JEFF SIMPSON
GAMING WIRE
Nevada gaming regulators want the public to help them decide whether they should allow Nevada gamblers to play video poker and other casino games from their home computers.
With at least one major casino operating company poised to offer the betting options if state regulators allow the practice, the Nevada Gaming Commission is slated Thursday to consider whether to allow Nevadans to bet on casino games from their home computers.
Regulators have already heard experts claim that allowing such bets from outside Nevada is likely illegal under federal law, but e-gambling advocates hope allowing Silver State residents to play casino games online would set the stage for later market expansion.
"This is a meeting where I'd like to get some help with broader policy questions," Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Pete Bernhard said. "We have to look at policy issues, decide if having people playing from their homes is what we want."
Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said intrastate Web betting could also apply to remote wagering from hotel rooms.
Station Casinos, already developing its own remote wagering system, supports allowing Nevadans to make online bets, Chief Financial Officer Glenn Christenson said.
Intrastate betting would complement the company's offerings at its brick-and-mortar casinos, Christenson said.
"If it is going to be available, we'd want to be involved. It's like videotaped movies available at Blockbuster. They don't kill first-run movies. And I think intrastate play from within Nevada would expand the (brick-and-mortar) market."
Station Casinos executives plan to attend Thursday's commission meeting in Las Vegas.
One company passing on the meeting is Wynn Resorts.
"Intrastate seems like glorified phone wagering," Wynn lawyer Marc Rubinstein said. "We've taken a long hard look at the (Internet gambling) issue, and we're just not sure yet."
When Gov. Kenny Guinn signed Assembly Bill 466 last spring, some industry experts thought the new law would allow Nevada casino operators to capture a large share of the Internet casino gambling market, a rapidly growing business Internet casino experts predict will generate $6.3 billion worldwide by next year.
Powerful brand names owned by Strip megaresorts like Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and Bellagio would quickly capture market share from current Internet casinos operating with little or no regulation from offshore jurisdictions, they argued.
One year later, many believe it will be years before Nevada casinos can offer Web betting to gamblers outside the state.
This year U.S. bettors will lose an estimated $1.2 billion on Internet casino sites, most operated from offshore jurisdictions with minimal regulatory oversight, lawyer and Internet gambling expert Tony Cabot said.
Nevadans lose about $40 million of that total, a market ripe for major local casino brands to target, Cabot said.
"(Intrastate betting) is perfect for companies with
By JEFF SIMPSON
GAMING WIRE
Nevada gaming regulators want the public to help them decide whether they should allow Nevada gamblers to play video poker and other casino games from their home computers.
With at least one major casino operating company poised to offer the betting options if state regulators allow the practice, the Nevada Gaming Commission is slated Thursday to consider whether to allow Nevadans to bet on casino games from their home computers.
Regulators have already heard experts claim that allowing such bets from outside Nevada is likely illegal under federal law, but e-gambling advocates hope allowing Silver State residents to play casino games online would set the stage for later market expansion.
"This is a meeting where I'd like to get some help with broader policy questions," Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Pete Bernhard said. "We have to look at policy issues, decide if having people playing from their homes is what we want."
Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said intrastate Web betting could also apply to remote wagering from hotel rooms.
Station Casinos, already developing its own remote wagering system, supports allowing Nevadans to make online bets, Chief Financial Officer Glenn Christenson said.
Intrastate betting would complement the company's offerings at its brick-and-mortar casinos, Christenson said.
"If it is going to be available, we'd want to be involved. It's like videotaped movies available at Blockbuster. They don't kill first-run movies. And I think intrastate play from within Nevada would expand the (brick-and-mortar) market."
Station Casinos executives plan to attend Thursday's commission meeting in Las Vegas.
One company passing on the meeting is Wynn Resorts.
"Intrastate seems like glorified phone wagering," Wynn lawyer Marc Rubinstein said. "We've taken a long hard look at the (Internet gambling) issue, and we're just not sure yet."
When Gov. Kenny Guinn signed Assembly Bill 466 last spring, some industry experts thought the new law would allow Nevada casino operators to capture a large share of the Internet casino gambling market, a rapidly growing business Internet casino experts predict will generate $6.3 billion worldwide by next year.
Powerful brand names owned by Strip megaresorts like Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and Bellagio would quickly capture market share from current Internet casinos operating with little or no regulation from offshore jurisdictions, they argued.
One year later, many believe it will be years before Nevada casinos can offer Web betting to gamblers outside the state.
This year U.S. bettors will lose an estimated $1.2 billion on Internet casino sites, most operated from offshore jurisdictions with minimal regulatory oversight, lawyer and Internet gambling expert Tony Cabot said.
Nevadans lose about $40 million of that total, a market ripe for major local casino brands to target, Cabot said.
"(Intrastate betting) is perfect for companies with