Regulated online poker in Nevada is closer to becoming a reality. This past Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Commission granted licenses to two gaming companies to provide systems for online poker partners.
The rival firms, Bally Technologies and International Game Technology (IGT), were both unanimously approved for online gaming licenses. They will not be the companies that will actually run the online poker rooms (in other words, they won’t be the new U.S. versions of Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars), but rather be the ones to supply the systems to whomever will actually run the websites. Thus, it is now a waiting game for Bally and IGT, as they cannot actually do anything until casino operators are licensed to offer online poker to Nevada residents.
Both Bally CEO Richard Haddrill and IGT Executive Vice President of Emerging Businesses Robert Melendres told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that they will be ready to go the moment a casino is approved. Melendres made sure to reiterate that his company will simply be providing the gaming systems, not actually operating the poker rooms, saying, “I want to make it abundantly clear, IGT has absolutely no intention to compete with our casino partners.”
The two companies have been known entities in Nevada for years, as they are the two leading slot machine manufacturers in the gaming industry. They have plenty of experience meeting Nevada gaming regulations.
The rivals also have online poker software that has been in use for years in Europe. In February, Bally purchased Chiligaming’s (Chili Poker) business-to-business platform, while IGT bought the Entraction network last year. Thus, IGT already has experience in the real money online poker world, while Bally has been operating a play money site for Golden Nugget. Both companies will use the technology already in place in European markets to prevent underage and problem gambling once sites are up and running in Nevada.
Bally Technologies was technically the first company to have its license approved, receiving the thumbs-up 45 minutes before IGT. In a press release, Richard Haddrill said, “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.”
Similarly, Patti Hart, IGT CEO said in a press release, “This is an exciting day for interactive wager-based gaming. 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.”
Also on Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board registered Gaming Laboratories International and BMM International to test interactive gaming equipment for the state. This is significant because both have labs around the world and both have tested millions of gaming systems, including those owned by Bally and IGT. Thus, any required system testing by the state should go much faster than if everything was being done from scratch with new companies. “These systems that have been written about recently have already been tested by GLI,” Gaming Laboratories International CEO James Maida told the Review-Journal. “We don’t have to retest and do the same process all over again. Our next step is to certify the equipment based on the standards set by Nevada.”
