Nevada made gambling history when it passed a bill that makes it legal not only for residents of the state to play poker online but for Nevada players to play online poker at intrastate sites set up by other states to allow online poker within their borders.
The bill was called AB114 and on Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 4:00 pm PST the Nevada legislature passed it unanimously, in both the state Senate and Assembly, and the state Republican Governor Brian Sandoval signed it into law. Sandoval also happened to be the Nevada Gaming Commission’s former chairman before taking the governor’s office.
While the law does open the door for cooperation between states to allow interstate online poker and gambling between their borders, it still requires that individual states and Nevada set up those arrangements first.
While the Justice Department has previously frowned on atempts to operate online gambling between state borders, the Nevada Governor plans to speak with the DOJ in the hopes of making the new law stick.
The Nevada state legislature rushed the bill to a vote, declaring it an emergency measure for publicity reasons more than anything, as the state aimed to beat gambling rival New Jersey to the punch, as that state’s Republican Governor Chris Christie is expected to sign similar legislation in the coming week. This keeps Nevada at the forefront of the United States gaming industry, online and off.
The state is already alleged to have more than 20 online gaming operators and software and equipment providers seeking licenses to offer online gambling services under the new law.