Nevada PStars-Backed “Interstate” iPoker Bill Heads for HearingWatch live webcast 11AM PST
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
business review says:
April 2nd, 2011 at 2:45am
………………….An Internet poker bill introduced in the Nevada state assembly Thursday is the most player-friendly bill ever proposed in the United States.. Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas said he has heard online poker leader PokerStars is supporting this bill and that he believes PokerStars would be in good position to get a license should it pass..Nevada wants to be on the forefront of this Pappas said. They saw whats happening in New Jersey and said Anything you can do we can do better..All of the problems that poker players had with the proposed Harry Reid federal legislation like the 15-month blackout or the exclusion of existing operators are not an issue with this bill..The bill also specifically mentions that the Nevada Gaming Commission would be authorized to enter into compacts with other jurisdictions where interactive gaming is not prohibited and that Nevada and these other jurisdictions would share tax revenues.