South Point Casino Receives Gaming Commission OK To Begin Intrastate Internet PokerNevada Company Gets License, Could Launch Real-Money Site This Fall |
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Nevada’s five-member Gaming Commission has given South Point Casino the first license to operate intrastate web poker in United States gambling history. Unlike many of its soon-to-be competitors, the Silver State casino company isn’t relying on a third-party firm to run its games.
The license comes about 16 months after the U.S. Department of Justice kicked out the major offshore online poker sites operating in the country.
South Point is out in front on the industry thanks to its decision to go with in-house software.
“We built this home-grown in Nevada from scratch, to the regulations,” a technology expert for the company told regulators Thursday. He added that South Point has “pretty cool technology” for Geo-location — one of the key issues for intrastate gambling in cyberspace.
“South Point Poker is grateful for this opportunity,” an attorney for the company said, adding that it hopes to be the first site to open its doors in Nevada, occurring as early as October.
The company fielded a handful of questions from Nevada’s gaming commissioners with regards to player verification and self-exclusion lists, quickly satisfying the inquiries.
South Point said that it has taken precautions to make sure it could handle a huge influx of players at first, since it will be the first site in the market.
“We want to make sure it’s done correctly because what you do might have an impact on what others do later,” Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard said.
The three-member Gaming Control Board approved South Point earlier this month.
Once its technology is signed off on by a third-party testing lab, South Point will be ready to flip on the switch. The company said that it’s in the “second pass” of technology inspection.
The casino has been offering free-play games for months via third-party software, but that relationship will be ditched once its own real-money play begins. South Point will still run a free-play site nationwide in conjunction with its real-money action in Nevada.
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