Thanks to the Department of Justice changing their long-held opinion regarding online gambling in the United States, each individual state can decide their own online gambling destiny. Since that changed late last year, both Nevada and Delaware have passed legislation which allows online gambling for residents and visitors when located in those state boundaries. A recent interactive gaming bill just hit the Nevada legislative branch that, if passed, would allow for players in other states to enjoy online poker and other online gaming options offered by the Silver State.
These interstate agreements would depend on several requirements being met. And with the Nevada online poker entity actually not even having dealt their first virtual hand since online poker was legalized in that state, the actual delivery of this online gaming option may not arrive until later this year. Nonetheless, the bill which was drafted and submitted by the Nevada State Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission attempts to offer amendments to the previous bill which made Nevada the first state in the US to offer online poker since the DOJ reversal in 2011.
Very basically, the amendment would allow Nevada’s governor to form partnerships with other states that also offer legalized internet poker. The interest for a state like Nevada with a smaller population than those like New York and California is obvious. This would give Nevada an immediate boost in the size of their player pool, and bill proponents argue that it would help any two states in a proposed partnership. But the bill could also help further position Nevada favorably as a leader in the new interactive gaming community in the United States.
Currently Nevada and Delaware are the only two US states which have passed online interactive gaming legislation. But, as mentioned previously, to enjoy online poker offered by a Nevada company, you must be located in Nevada. The same applies to Delaware, and this would immediately allow those two states to substantially increase the size of their player pool, as well as solidly claim their positions as leaders in what is inarguably a billion dollar a year industry in the United States.
And with next-door neighbor California aggressively pushing for online gambling legislation the last couple of years, an agreement of some type with Nevada would be almost a foregone conclusion. Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett said Monday that the language is beneficial to Nevada and any prospective partners, and that it came about because of the federal government’s inability to pass legislation at their level. The bill was drawn up in consultation with the Nevada Governor’s office, and currently 17 different corporations have been licensed to act as operators and technology providers under the new Nevada interactive gaming regulations.