Now that Nevada has signed into law AB114, one of the fastest ever to be pushed into law in US history, the time has come to start determining how this will all work. Much like other states have done with online gaming or lotteries, they need to start talking to other interested parties and come to an agreement on how they will all begin to work together. One of the first steps will be to begin talking to other state licensees and other interested parties on how to form these so called “compacts.” Obviously, the main initiative is to increase the pool player liquidity amongst all the states that have legalized online gaming, particularly poker.
Nevada has claimed that they want to remain the “gold standard” for US regulation and ever since New Jersey passed their bill through, they have been moving faster than ever to stay one step ahead of everyone. Now they have formally filed a “Request for Comment” and this will determine how all the pieces of the legal intrastate puzzle will work. These means that they want to focus on “regulations concerning interstate agreements for interactive gaming” and figure out how to master this unchartered territory as more states come into the fold.
They want to be ready and set a precedent on how this will all work out in the end, meanwhile maintaining their leadership role in the US online gaming marketplace. The Nevada Gaming Commission has recently posted on its web site asking for advice which will help them tackle these issues in the best format possible. Some of the major issues include whether revenue sharing between “signatory states” that are in the compact would be shared where the bets are actually taken place or originated. Or will the revenue sharing between the states be more based on where the licensed operator is located, for example, New Jersey or Nevada.
Another major issue was on how prospective partner states would handle player complaints in a regulated environment. Other issues addressed are like: What topics should be put into regulation? How will the regulatory language be drafted once they agree? All these questions must be submitted by April 12, 2013 in order for them to move forward. Looks like the comments must be accepted by the Commission’s Executive Secretary and then posted online. Then replies to those comments will be accepted by the April 19th 2013 deadline.
By the time they settle on the way to proceed, they may just end up looking much like the way states currently utilize the Lottery System’s Powerball game. Right now many of the states are united and have created some of the largest lottery jackpots in the world. Some of the language used in this current Nevada legislation concludes that the Governor can legally: “Enter into agreements with other states, or authorized agencies thereof, to enable patrons in the signatory states to participate in interactive gaming offered by licensees in those signatory states; and take all necessary action to ensure that any agreement entered into pursuant to this section becomes effective.”
This is all great new for all the companies who have recently obtained licenses and for those companies who are on their way to getting a license. Either way you look at it Nevada is paving the way with its own version on regulation showing the way for other states to join the party with all the rules in place.
It will just be a matter of time before the other states become regulated and look to the pioneering states like New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada who will have everything in place on their own turf and also have the intrastate details they can all follow as well.
If everything goes right for them, when the Federal Government decides to pass a bill, everything will essentially be in place and it will just be a matter of dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s before the US has a complete, unified, comprehensive and operational online gaming jurisdiction. The state of Nevada will be the ones who can take all the credit with the first intrastate bill in the history of the country and will most likely lead the way for years to come.
