Intrastate online poker in Nevada could be in operation within eight months, according to the Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board Mark Lipparelli.
In an interview with iGamingBusiness, Lipparelli stated that technical evaluations of the software platforms of license applicants will take place over the spring and summer. Although there is no fixed timetable on how long this process will take, the first approvals could be given by fall of this year.
Licensees “thoughtful about their approach and had their systems reviewed by test labs in the past” will be the first given the green light. An operation could go live soon after a successful technical evaluation, “by late fall and certainly by late winter or the early part of 2013.”
Nevada unanimously approved its online poker regulation back in December 2011, even before the Christmas letter that clarified the Department of Justice stance on the Wire Act and paved the way for intrastate online poker. More than a dozen operators and manufacturers are thought to have applied for a license, including Ongame buyer Shuffle Master, Chili buyer Bally Tech. and Entraction buyer IGT.
