Joining an ever growing list of potential operators and service providers under Nevada’s online poker licensing procedures, the online gaming giant Bwin.Party has officially tossed its hat into the ring.
Bwin.Party, the owner of what was the most popular online poker room in the United States, PartyPoker, prior to the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, announced their intentions yesterday to acquire one of the licenses that the Nevada Gaming Control Board will issue for an intrastate poker network. While it may not come as a surprise to some that the largest online gaming operation in the world would want to be a part of the new Nevada gaming outlet, it had to jump through some hoops to be able to be eligible for one of the licenses.
Under the Nevada regulations, any potential operator or service provider has to partner with a licensed Nevada gaming operation to be eligible for one of the available licenses. To be eligible, Bwin.Party partnered last year with MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming, who are looking to operate poker sites. If either MGM or Boyd (or both) are granted a license, Bwin.Party would provide the software and be in charge of site maintenance as a service provider.
Bwin.Party’s entrance into the poker licensing parade isn’t the only notable company to announce their intentions. The Golden Nugget has applied for a license as an operator and three companies – SPIELO International, St. Minver and Boss Media – are looking to be service providers for any potential online poker sites.
The partnership between Bwin.Party and either/or MGM and Boyd is an attractive one, as Bwin.Party owns the World Poker Tour (many WPT events are held at MGM properties) and could be a major player with the MGM/Boyd outlets. Other companies have also noted the strengths of solid partnerships and have already put their names on the list for one of the potential Nevada licenses.
Another strong partnership would be between 888 Holdings and Caesars Entertainment. Caesars, as owners of the World Series of Poker, and 888 Holdings already operate a WSOP-branded online poker room for international players, but a Nevada license would allow the partnership to push their brand even further into the poker world’s consciousness.
The NGCB began accepting applications in February and is preparing for an end of year activation of their intrastate online poker network (it is possible that full casino operations could be conducted as well). The rush of applications hasn’t been slowed by the myriad of regulations that the NGCB put in place for any operation in its network.
The operators and service providers will have to pay a hefty up-front fee (thought to be around $250,000) for the license and will be required to maintain a fund for compliance investigations. Any potential operators must take thorough steps to prevent underage gaming and usage of poker bots and must also keep hand histories for a five year period. Foreign operators, as previously stated, must partner with a licensed Nevada casino operation to be able to participate in the Nevada online gaming network.
Under the regulations approved last year, players will have to be 21 years old to be able to play on a given site and can only have one account per operator. While credit cards are allowed as a method of funding, inter-account transfers would not be allowed. These regulations are just a few that the players will have to face.
The rapid pace of applications – and the potential to be in on the ground floor of a legalized U. S. market – should draw many more applications for operators and service providers over the next few months prior to the launching of Nevada’s online gaming operations later in 2012.
