3 More Nevada Poker Applications
Friday November 2, 2012 : THREE MORE NEVADA ONLINE POKER APPLICATIONS RECOMMENDED
MGM Resorts, Z4Poker and CAMS recommended for licensing by Nevada Gaming Control Board
Land casino giant MGM Resorts International was among three more applicants recommended for a Nevada online poker licence Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The applications, which also included Z4Poker and CAMS will now go forward to the Nevada Gaming Commission for approval next month.
The three companies join a growing roster of 12 aspirant intrastate online poker operators that includes Boyd Gaming, Golden Nugget Fertitta Interactive, WMS Gaming Inc., American Casino and Entertainment Properties, Shuffle Master, International Game Technology, South Point Poker, Monarch Interactive, Bally Technologies, Global Cash Access
MGM and Boyd already have a deal in place with Bwin.Party to launch online poker operations in Nevada when the intrastate market is declared open.
Los Angeles-based CAMS is a new subsidiary of electronic payment and risk management firm Verifi and like Z4Poker applied for a service provider licence. The company has access to sophisticated technologies which enable it to verify identities and geo-locate players
Z4Poker is a more familiar Las Vegas firm that has developed online poker technology and capability, which it plans to license to would-be operators.
In related news, Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman has joined his MGM counterpart Jim Murren in emphasising that the land casino giants prefer a federally legalised online poker market, but are realistic and accept that the solution may ultimately come down to state-by-state legalization.
Answering questions on an analyst’s conference call this week, Loveman revealed: “…we have shifted some of our focus to the legalization of online gaming in key states.”
Earlier this week Murren expressed similar sentiments, and said that up to a dozen individual states are talking to each other about collaborating to increase player liquidity in an environment where state-by-state legalization may well come about.
