Bill Seeking To Limit Nevada Online Gaming Dies In CommitteeAdelson-Backed Proposal Fails To Navigate Senate |
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A piece of legislation that would have limited Nevada’s future online gambling compacts with other jurisdictions failed to get out of committee by the May 15 deadline.
The bill, AB 414, which was backed by Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp., would have prevented the Silver State from partnering up with another state for online gaming, with the sole exception being web poker. Nevada and Delaware currently share players for online poker.
The legislation did pass Nevada’s Assembly in April. The vote was 23 in favor, 17 against and two excused. The Senate Judiciary Committee decided against moving it forward.
Here’s what the bill was trying to accomplish in its own words:
Existing law authorizes the Governor, upon recommendation of the Nevada Gaming Commission, to enter into agreements with certain governments to enable patrons in the signatory states to participate in interactive gaming. This bill: (1) provides that such agreements may only be entered into to enable patrons in the signatory states to participate in Internet poker; and (2) defines Internet poker for such purposes.
Nevada doesn’t currently have any online gambling other than poker, while Delaware, as well as New Jersey, have other house-banked casino games in addition to peer-to-peer poker.
In late March, the Nevada Gaming Control board said that AB 414 would have “no current fiscal impact” because the state only regulates online poker.
According to Nevada law, its casino operators, if approved by regulators, could one day offer house-banked casino games to those within the state’s borders, but Nevada has so far elected to go with just poker. With people like Nevada Sen. Harry Reid saying that he doesn’t think online gaming is good for Las Vegas, it might be awhile before that happens. The fact that revenue for Las Vegas Strip casinos is at an all-time high, with gaming win representing less of the pie than it once did, also could delay an expansion of Nevada online gaming. The Strip is finally seeing new construction, headlined by the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas.
In addition to trying to curb the online gaming capabilities of Nevada, Adelson is pushing a federal ban on online gaming, as well as bill to prevent online gaming in Pennsylvania.
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