HARRAH’S SEEKS NEVADA APPROVAL FOR 888

4/15/10 – Harrah's Entertainment is seeking suitability approval from Nevada gaming regulators for business partner 888, whose software its Interactive Division is using for three Internet gambling sites in the United Kingdom, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
 
The application was filed last week by Harrah's on behalf of Dragonfish, a division of 888 Holdings, under the gambling state's Foreign Gaming Act.
 
Gaming Control Board chairman Dennis Neilander told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that a company that had previously [pre-UIGEA] accepted online wagers from Americans has never sought licensing or suitability approval from the state before.
 
"It's a question the board and the (Nevada Gaming) Commission have never formally ruled on," Neilander said. "It's something that may need to be resolved because it's possible we'll see more of these type of relationships in the future."
 
Neilander said it was unclear how long it would take for Nevada to investigate 888 Holdings, a holding company that has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since September 2005.
 
Harrah's application with the state is under the law that covers a Nevada gaming company's dealings with a foreign business. It was the law used in 2007 when gaming regulators found Hong Kong businesswoman Pansy Ho to be a suitable business partner for MGM Mirage in their shared ownership of the MGM Grand Macau, the LVRJ reveals.
 
A Harrah's spokesman declined comment on the regulatory filing.
 
Dragonfish provides Harrah's with the technology to manage and operate online gaming sites in the United Kingdom under the company's World Series of Poker and Caesars brands. The Web sites can not be accessed by American gamblers.