Three companies were granted interactive gaming licenses by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday as the lineup for the state’s potential online poker market grew more crowded.
Commissioners licensed Boyd Gaming Corp. the Golden Nugget ownership and Fertitta Interactive – which includes the owners of Station Casinos and operators of Ultimate Fighting Championship – to launch online poker websites as soon as the technology is approved.
The website can be accessed only by people age 21 and older playing on computers or mobile devices within Nevada.
Boyd Gaming Executive Vice President Bob Boughner told gaming commissioners the company believes online poker in Nevada will be a $180 million a year business and would damage the state’s live poker business.
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Passage of federal Internet poker legislation during Congress’ upcoming lame duck session will “take a little bit of gamblers luck,” the casino industry’s chief Washington, D.C., lobbyist said Tuesday in Las Vegas.
American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. said legalizing Internet poker in the U.S. continues to be an overriding issue for the casino industry, which officially kicked off the Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. The four-day conference and trade show is the industry’s largest annual meeting.
Fahrenkopf, whose organization co-produces G2E with Reed Exhibitions, said Internet poker legalization is the most talked about subject among the gaming community. Most of the major casino companies and gaming equipment manufacturers have taken initial steps to jump into a legalized American Internet poker market.
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International Game Technology said Tuesday that its DoubleDown Casino on Facebook will partner with the Hard Rock Hotel, DoubleDown’s first deal with a land-based casino in Las Vegas.
DoubleDown Casino will have its application hosted on the Hard Rock Hotel’s website. DoubleDown Casino is a social gaming company that sells virtual casino chips and has online slots, poker and other games.
“Engaging through the website allows players to remain connected to the property … with DoubleDown Casino simply providing the gaming content,” said Eric Tom, executive vice president of global sales at IGT.
Terms of the contract weren’t disclosed. The deal with Hard Rock was announced about a week after IGT, which operates in Las Vegas and Reno, reached a similar deal with Jacobs Entertainment Inc.
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A plank in the Republican platform, approved earlier this week at the party’s national convention in Tampa, Fla., calls for a “prohibition” on Internet gaming and reversing December’s re-evaluation of the Federal Wire Act.
The language – listed under the heading “Making the Internet Family-Friendly” – goes against the position taken by most of the gaming industry and of the state’s Republican elected leaders.
Gov. Brian Sandoval, who addressed the Republican Convention on Tuesday, said he doesn’t support the platform language.
“We’re not going to agree on everything,” Sandoval said. “Nevada has always set the gold standard in gaming, and online gaming is the next frontier for the industry. Our state supports online poker and will continue to work to ensure a secure online gaming environment.”
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