Golden Gaming and Lottomatica awarded Nevada licences

Golden Gaming and Lottomatica Group have become the latest companies to receive Nevada interactive poker licences after being approved by the state’s gaming commission last night.

Italian operator Lottomatica, which is also the parent company of software provider Spielo G2, becomes the first European company approved for a service provider licence in the Silver State, while Golden Gaming has been granted an operator licence.

The pair join the likes of Caesars Interactive Entertainment and International Game Technology in being approved to offer online poker in Nevada, with the total number of licensees across the operator and service provider fields now well into double figures.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lottomatica general counsel Robert Jones said: “We are very aware of the privilege that comes with a licence, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”

The business, which runs the International Poker Network and Canadian Poker Network as well as the second most popular destination for online tournament poker in Italy, agreed in October to provide a freeplay poker offering for Pinnacle Entertainment after the Epic Poker League owner won a tournament hosted by Spielo G2 at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

Golden Gaming, which owns a number of land-based gaming venues in Las Vegas and Reno and has secured a licence via online arm Sartini Synergy Ltd, is understood to have held talks with a number of potential software providers since first applying for its Nevada licence last August.

Chief executive Blake Sartini admitted the company had “Taken a cautious approach to this point”.