IGT and Bally receive Nevada online poker licences

Gaming machine suppliers IGT and Bally have today become the first companies to receive licences to offer real money online poker in Nevada.

Both will now undergo stringent technology and systems testing by the state’s Gaming Control Board before going live later this year.

The providers will act as interactive gaming system manufacturers and service providers, offering land-based casinos a B2B online poker solution.

Bally Technologies’ CEO Richard Haddrill said in a statement: “We are grateful to the State of Nevada for this opportunity. We look forward to Bally expanding its leadership role in this exciting new arena of online gaming.”

“This is an exciting day for interactive wager-based gaming,” said Patti Hart, IGT chief executive officer. “We are honored to be granted the opportunity to support our customers as they further expand their operations to include online play in the State of Nevada.”

The two gaming machine manufacturers have long been preparing a B2B online poker product. Bally acquired the B2B assets of French operator Chiligaming in February including its iGaming platform, while IGT purchased poker network Entraction last year ““ since renamed IGT Poker ““ and paid up to US$500m for social game developer Double Down in January.

More than 30 gaming operators and service providers have applied for licenses in Nevada, including the likes of Caesars, Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts, who will hope to see their names on the GCB agenda in the coming months.

However many believe that gaining a licence in the Silver State, which has just 2.7 million inhabitants and represents just 0.86 of the US population, is simply a stepping stone in preparation for interstate or federal regulation. Frank Shreck, chair of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck’s Gaming Law Group, told eGaming Review North America earlier this year that applying for a Nevada licence is “all about about trying to get a little bit ahead of the curve for what they hope to be a federal bill authorising poker”.

“I don’t know how much enthusiasm there is for intrastate online gambling [among operators]. There’s no liquidity, no real market for it,” he said.

Nevada’s regulatory body is seen as one of the most stringent in the US, and for those licensed here it is an important stamp of approval which could be looked on favourably at a federal level or indeed by other states.