According to a report by the Las Vegas Journal Review last week, PokerStars has hired former Nevada Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre as a consultant. The move came just a week after an internet gaming bill was introduced in the Nevada legislature which, if approved, would force the Gaming Commission to create regulations allowing online poker.
Nevada bill AB 258, which was pioneered by Assembly Majority Whip William Horne, was fully backed by PokerStars from the beginning. According to the Wall Street Journal, the driving force behind the bill was Rational Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., the company that holds ownership of PokerStars.
Thus, the timing of Sayre’s hiring isn’t coincidental. The company is trying to stay one step ahead of the competition in case online poker is regulated in the U.S. Who better than a former Board member with a reputation as a hard-hitting regulator?
Sayre said last week that internet gaming’s emergence will happen in due time and the state would benefit since it has the history and capabilities to regulate the online casino industry. “We can stand on the beach and let it wash over us, or we can recognize the potential economic opportunity for the state,” he said.
Sayre, who spent 26 years with the Control Board as a state gaming agent and division chief, was named Gaming Regulator of the Year by the International Masters of Gaming Law in 2009. But in November, Sayre says the staff of Governor-elect Brian Sandoval told him that he would not be reappointed to a second four-year term on the Board. His tenure expired at the end of the year, leaving him looking for a new position. And PokerStars came calling.
Sayre did his research on the company and says he believes in its potential. “PokerStars is a significant company that is looking to advance its agenda,” he said.
PokerStars also hired former Nevada Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins as its legislative lobbyist earlier this year. Perkins was first elected to the Nevada Assembly as a Democrat in 1992 and then ascended to the Speaker position in 2001. He gave up his seat to run for Governor in 2006, but withdrew from the race in 2005 and decided to give up his seat in the Assembly.
Perkins believes the Isle of Man, where PokerStars is licensed, is a booming technology center that could lead the industry in the right direction. “I see internet gaming as the next extension of how Nevada reinvents itself,” Perkins said. “This is the growth vehicle for the gaming industry worldwide.”
The bill setting the stage for internet gambling in Nevada will be considered on Thursday by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. AB 258 asks state gambling regulators to create rules for internet poker operators and prevents the Nevada Gaming Commission from denying a license to popular existing sites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
While PokerStars has backed the bill, several others have opposed it. MGM Resorts International told the Wall Street Journal last week, “You have one company trying to impose a business model on legislation. We have to eliminate illegal online gambling and crack down on foreign operators that don’t comply with Federal law.”
Caesars Entertainment, which owns the rights to the annual World Series of Poker, has also made it clear that it’s against AB 258. The company recently entered into an agreement with 888 Holdings to expand its World Series of Poker and Caesars brands to the U.K, but the deal was also made with the hopes of entering the U.S. market if and when legislation was passed.
Should PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker be permitted to acquire a license to do business in the state, it would leave Caesars in a tough competition for business.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from Nevada.
