Three more applicants gain Nevada licences
WMS, PokerTrip and Stratosphere owner ACEP all receive approval from the Silver State's gaming commission.
WMS Gaming, American Casino and Entertainment Properties (ACEP) and PokerTrip Enterprises became the latest recipients of Nevada egaming licences following a meeting of the state’s gaming commission yesterday.
PokerTrip is the first affiliate to receive clearance to serve the Silver State’s online poker market, while WMS and ACEP have earned manufacturer/service provider and operator licences respectively.
The approval granted to WMS comes two months after the company – whose background is as a land-based slot machine manufacturer – agreed a deal with 888 to offer the European-facing operator’s poker product to bricks and mortar casinos on an initial freeplay basis, with scope for a real-money transition following the receipt of relevant licences.
WMS formed its online division. Williams Interactive, in July and WMS president Orrin J Edidin described the award of a licence as “An important milestone in the initiatives we’ve undertaken to support our casino customers’ online gaming entertainment needs.”
Meanwhile ACEP, which owns the Stratosphere casino in Las Vegas, intends to launch a freeplay poker offering before the end of this year before a real-money version goes live in early 2013.
It joins Monarch Interactive and South Point Poker in holding an operator licence in Nevada, having withdrawn its application for service provider accreditation, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the company’s director of gaming development Alec Driscoll explained an agreement with an as-yet-unidentified technology provider has already been agreed and will be announced in due course.
Las Vegas-based business PokerTrip currently provides tournament information and schedules for casinos in the Silver State through its AllVegasPoker site as well as a nationwide equivalent, The Poker Atlas.
Its chief executive and president is World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jon Friedberg, and it is the first company to be licensed in Nevada as an online poker marketer.
This week saw the parent company of former WSOP host venue Binion’s become the latest applicant for an operator, manufacturer and service provider licence in Nevada, while last month saw Golden Gaming file its application. A number of service providers have already received approval, including IGT, Bally Technologies and Shuffle Master.
Full list of Nevada licensees:
“¢ IGT (manufacturer and service provider)
“¢ Bally Technologies (manufacturer and service provider)
“¢ Shuffle Master (manufacturer and service provider)
“¢ NetEffect (IT service provider)
“¢ South Point Poker (operator)
“¢ Monarch Interactive (operator)
“¢ Global Cash Access (payment processing solutions provider)
“¢ WMS Gaming (manufacturer and service provider)
“¢ American Casino Entertainment Properties (operator)
“¢ PokerTrip Enterprises (online poker marketing affiliate)