Celebrity endorsements and player-to-player transfers, both staples of offshore online poker sites, will receive vastly different treatment under new interactive gaming regulations published recently by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Celebrity endorsers are likely to realize a spike in demand with the expected opening of Nevada online poker sites in late 2012 and 2013, meaning that prominent poker pros will have a new market.
One wrinkle to be added via the NGC’s extensive regs on the topic is that any such celebrity players must be clearly identified while at the tables, meaning that they will not be able to play under secondary accounts while also receiving endorser benefits.
Other special considerations which could affect all players are also addressed, such as the the handling of promotional offers and the awarding of special prizes including trips and cars, both of which are specifically addressed in the new regs.
Among the most important ways the upcoming Nevada online poker sites will differ from many offshore offerings concerns player-to-player transfers, a staple of the poker world, wherein action and bankroll funds are often swapped between players, including complex staking arrangements.
Under the new regs, such player-to-player transfers will be expressly forbidden. Money laundering concerns may be part of the reasoning for the ban, but the only transfers allowed will be between players and the sites’ own financial deposit/withdrawal systems.
