Nevada no longer required to issue Online Poker Revenue Reports
Nevada was the first state to launch a regulated internet gaming market in the United States, but the last of three (including Delaware and New Jersey) to issue public online poke revenue reports for the industry. Now, after nearly one year of unrestricted revenue data logs, the Silver State is once again not required to make its online poker earnings public knowledge.
According to the guidelines set forth by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) when drafting iGaming regulations, the state is only required to issue reports detailing online poker revenue generation if there are three or more active operators. When Ultimate Poker closed its virtual doors late last year, it left only two operators, thus no obligation to publish the information.
Ultimate Poker made history when the operator launched the very first US regulated online poker site on April 30, 2013. For months, UP remained the only active operator in the state, or the nation for that matter. Then on September 19 of that same year, WSOP.com joined the limited ranks of Nevada’s online poker market. But still, the number of operators was below the required amount to issue public revenue reports.
It wasn’t until South Point became the third operator in Nevada with the launch of Real Gaming in February of 2014 that the state finally released its first online poker revenue report. Due to the nature of those reports, which include 1-month, 3-month and 12-month summaries, the complete yield for 2013 was also revealed, amounting to $8.524 million since the initial launch of UP.
Some had hoped that the NGCB would retract the former reporting rule requirement when the number of operators fell back to two, but obviously that’s not the case. Therefore, until a third operator joins the ranks, concerned market analysts and media outlets will be forced to estimate the monthly yield for December 2014, January 2015 and however many months transpire before publications resume.
Estimated Timeline for launch of 3rd Online Poker Operator in Nevada
There are three possible candidates to shoulder the responsibility of becoming Nevada’s next 3rd online poker operator, thus becoming the catalyst for the state’s resumption of online poker revenue reports. Which of those three will hit the market first is hard to say, but it is expected to happen in 2015.
The All American Poker Network (AAPN), on which WSOP.com is currently hosted, is projected to integrate two new sites in the coming year. One is expected to be launched by Treasure Island, and the other 888Poker, proprietor of AAPN. The significance of either of these sites launching would be the resulting shared player pool with WSOP.com, which already leads the Nevada online poker market by leaps and bounds.
The other possibility is HDPoker.com, powered by a new, Nevada-based software company known as Z4Poker. The developer has already been licensed by the NGCB, but has yet to partner with any land-based operator, as is required by regulatory guidelines to offer real money poker games over the internet.
Rumor has it that Z4Poker has a relationship with the Siena Hotel & Casino in Reno, NV, but no partnership deal has been confirmed. In 2014, it was reported that HDPoker anticipated its launch before end of year, with a mobile poker app to be added in Q1 2015, but the website indicates the software remains in Beta Testing mode.
