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Nevada Gaming Commission’s Online Poker Regulations.

December the 22nd saw the first approval of online poker gaming regulations by Nevada Gaming Commission. These regulations became the first step for reintroduction of the regulated and licensed online poker in the United States in 2012. Although this is clearly a positive step, the scope and overall performance for these regulations are still subject to discussions.

There is still clearly much to be done to establish if these regulations are going to be used in a national network, interstate between different states under Nevada lead or intrastate within Nevada only. The solution will depend not only on Nevada’s own efforts during the course of this year but also on the progress of the federal bill. In any case it is clear now that whatever the future of the online poker in the United States, Nevada wants to be in the lead at setting up the regulatory framework.

The Nevada Gaming Commission began processing applications made by companies to set up online poker operations and offer online poker services for the residents of Nevada. It is now known that Boyd Gaming and Caesars Entertainment have submitted their applications.

It is expected for the first sites to start offering their services to the people in Nevada in the later part 2012. Companies holding their current licensees in Nevada can expect their application to be reviewed in under 90 days, although it will take longer to establish an internal control system to implement the regulations.

If the federal bill goes through, the states and Indian territories will become their own regulators, as it is currently set up in the proposed Rep. Joe Barton’s bill. So once the federal law is set, Nevada will be ready to start the operation from Day 1 with companies’ licensees preset up and preapproved. Some observers also expect that other states will be interested to join the regulations under Nevada umbrella and let Nevada oversea online poker licensing in their state. States like California and New Jersey although are expected to draw their own regulations.

John Pappas, the executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, commented on the news: "Nevada is essentially moving ahead without a federal law… Should it become federal law, I think Nevada will be in the position to be one of the first states certified to issue licenses. I think a lot of states would rather not take the regulatory burden upon themselves and would say what's good enough for Nevada is good enough for us."

Some potential drawbacks are already being commented on and one of those most frequently mentioned is an issue of liquidity. Should Nevada go with intrastate option providing services to the residents of the sate only, three million population will be a huge set back.