New Management Changes at Huge Casino
It is uncertain how Las Vegas plans to deal with online gambling. Nevada gaming regulators may clamp down on contractual relationships between the state’s casino operators and non-gambling arms of the Internet gaming industry. Online gambling has become a major source of new revenue for Las Vegas, but not in the traditional way. Several years ago, the World Series Poker, which is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment, set self-imposed guidelines prohibiting online gamblers from qualifying to the tournament through the Internet. The move reduced the number of entries into the tournament’s $10,000 buy-in main event by more than 27 percent from its peak year.
This method of recruiting in not unique to the WSOP. Last month, The Venetian held the inaugural event of the newly created North American Poker Tour, which is sponsored by PokerStars. In the $5,000 buy-in event that was taped for airing on ESPN2 next month, 872 players entered, including 25 who qualified through PokerStars.net. Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre said he is drafting a letter to the casino industry that sets guidelines for entering into deals with Internet gaming businesses. “We don’t have a policy and clearly the board needs to boil down exactly what that policy needs to be,” Sayre said. “Some gaming licensees play carefully by the rules and others do not. I do not believe the board can remain silent on this any longer.”
Veteran gaming attorney Frank Schreck agreed that the control board needs to set rules for dealing with Internet gaming businesses. He said responsibility for complying with regulations falls on the casinos. “There is a lot of confusion right now in the industry and there needs to be some regulatory guidelines,” Schreck said. “All we’re asking is to tell us what is permissible.” Legally, internet gambling sites cannot accept bets from Americans. In the 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act became law which made it a crime for banks and other financial institutions to process transactions used in online gaming. Several Web sites, including PokerStars and FullTilt, created two Internet portals. One location is designated as a .com and accepts wagers. The second site, designated by .net, does not accept wagers and serves as an introductory and tutoring location for potential gamblers. However, the .com locations are easily accessed through the .nets. “Oftentimes, there is very little difference between the dot-nets and dot-coms,” Sayre said. “This is something that has been tolerated but the board needs to ask itself if this relationship is reasonable
Tags: CEO, management, Pinnacle
