The Nevada Legislature\’s Assembly Judiciary will be hearing the PokerStars-backed iPoker bill, aka AB258 (complete bill text here) this morning at 11am PT. The hearing is the next step in the process for this bill to become a law, though not the final one.
This internet-poker specific bill is both uniquely controversial among all of the proposed intrastate iGambling bills. Not only does it explicitly state that the NGC may not discriminate against the likes of Poker Stars and Full Tilt, which have operated gambling sites unlicensed with US players, but the legislation defines a model by which internet poker websites *outside* of Nevada could pay to connect player pools with new Nevada player pools through B2B state-regulated \”compacts.\”
That\’s right. If passed as is, players on new Nevada iGambling sites could play with people that live in places outside the state of Nevada \”where interactive gaming is not prohibited\” – so long as a regulated deal exists between the state and external websites.
One has to wonder – if this NV bill is made into law before the newly re-introduced federal internet gambling #campbill, what will the landscape of the future internet gambling market in the United States look like?
Watch it -> Live feed for AB258 in Carson City 11AM PST here -> Assembly Judiciary @ NV Legislature webcast