Nevada Gaming Bill Struggle Heats Up

Individual states in the US are trying to pass state bills to allow some form of regulated and taxed online gaming within the US following the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 that banned online gaming financial transactions and thus eliminated legal online gaming in the US.

Nevada is now trying to approve a state bill to allow intrastate online poker room operators to operate in the state and offer residents of Nevada a legal and controlled online gaming environment.

The biggest online poker room PokerStars has put its full weight behind the proposed bill that will allow existing online poker operators that have been offering their services to US players from offshore locations, to still bid for a license.

Everything was progressing well until the biggest land-based gambling company in the world; Caesars Entertainment stepped into the frame and voiced its opposition against the Nevada bill.

Caesars is rumored to be one of the factors that caused New Jersey Governor to do a last minute u-turn and not approve a similar bill in New Jersey.

Caesars claims that the Nevada bill and other similar state bills will prevent the over-turning of the UIGEA. Caesars is focused on interstate legislation that will allow a national licensing regime for online gaming and will enable operators of online gambling portals to work from within the US and bring gaming revenues and jobs that for the past five years have been lost to foreign operators.