Nevada to accept online poker applications in February

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Tech entrepreneur Russell Carter has welcomed the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s (NGCB) announcement that in February 2012 it will start accepting applications to offer online poker services to players located within state borders.

“This is great news for the many thousands of Nevada residents who would like to play online poker without breaking the law,” he said. Mr Carter continued: “But it’s not just poker players who will benefit: by legalising and taxing online poker within state borders, the state of Nevada will be able to raise millions of dollars at a time when budgets are being squeezed.”

With Goldman Sachs estimating that the US market for online casinos and poker could be worth $12 billion, and individual states – like Nevada – now beginning to liberalise, both US and overseas gaming operators are starting to execute their market entry strategies. For example, in April 2011 the UK’s William Hill PLC announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire American Wagering Inc (AWI) which operates mobile sports betting services under the Leroy’s Brand.

However Mr Carter also sounded a note of caution: “Whilst the rewards for regulatory compliant online operators in Nevada could be huge, so will be the downside for any who fail to meet the NGCB’s stringent legal, regulatory and technical standards. This includes making sure that online gambling services are not made available to anyone located outside Nevada state borders, where they remain illegal. Taking a bet from a player located outside Nevada could mean losing your licence.”

Mr Carter is the owner of US patents 7 510 474 B2 and 7 828 654 B2 which relate to a “Location Based Mobile Wagering System” and a “Location Based Gaming System”. These patents – which will be required by all regulatory-compliant online and mobile gaming operators in the United States - cover poker, lottery, sports betting, casino and massive multi-player online gaming (MMOG), with both real and virtual currency in each case. Mr Carter is in discussions with a number of would-be operators of online gambling services in Nevada regarding his intellectual property.