Nevada dealing with "5 or 6" Internet poker applicants

According to Lipparelli, there are two gaming entities new to Nevada that have applied as “manufacturers and distributors” in the online poker business. Since there is no Control Board history of investigation for these companies, reviewing their respective applications is already ongoing.

Lipparelli admitted that “activating” an application before regulations are adopted is “not ideal.” Regulators will reconvene on December 22 to continue to iron out the language in the regulatory drafts, which must be finalized by the end of January. The last public hearing was held in early November.

In mid November it was widely reported that Lipparelli said the Control Board would begin taking applications in February. “I think there was little bit of misinterpretation about what I said,” Lipparelli said. “What I meant was that in January the regulations have to be adopted, and I would expect, beginning in February, that people would want to pursue potentially operating an Internet poker site in Nevada. But that did not mean that only in February would the applications be accepted. In fact some people filed a month and half ago.”

The chairman said he couldn’t predict how many more applications will come into his office in the coming weeks. He said that some companies may act conservatively and wait until the end of January’s hearings.

Under Nevada statute, actually operating Internet poker is limited to those who already have a nonrestricted gaming license - the type of traditional brick-and-mortar casinos. Lipparelli said that these types of applicants likely wouldn’t see significant “re-investigation.”

Lipparelli thinks the timeline to have web poker running in Nevada will be dictated by when licensees can have their respective technology approved. “This process will probably take longer than some of the underlying licensing events themselves,” he said, and pointed out that existing Nevada licensees who have their own technology and don’t have partnerships could start up sooner than those with more sophisticated applications.

Lipparelli said he doesn’t know what would come from any potential federal Internet poker legislation, but that Nevada has been “thoughtful” of Capitol Hill efforts and would likely have to amend its regulations and modify state law if a national bill passed. A Nevada bill that was signed into law this past summer allows the Silver State to move toward creating the nation’s first licensed and regulated online poker market.