As the nation?s first legal, pay-to-play poker website embarks on a 30-day trial period, players from every state and Europe are logging on, even as casino companies, tech developers, regulators and lawmakers alike examine the technology for strengths and flaws.
Station Casinos, a local company with 16 properties in the Las Vegas Valley, took ultimatepoker.com online on Tuesday. The company hopes to bring some clarity to the debate among gambling officials and lawmakers about online gambling.
At issue is whether the company can verify that the site?s users are over 21 and in Nevada, using identification and geolocation software, among other tools. Visitors to Nevada can register to play before arriving in the state. Opponents have expressed concern about minors using the site.
The site?s activation accelerated a race that started this year when Nevada passed a law that legalised online gambling, beating New Jersey by a matter of weeks.
Bo Bernhard, executive director of the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, called the site a milestone.
?It?s the first online casino ? in the state that developed the modern casino resort,? Bernhard said. About 30 hours after the site opened, Tom Breitling, the Ultimate Poker chairman, crowed about being ?first out of the gate? and said he was surprised to see ?pent-up demand? as poker players expressed interest in the site.
Breitling also pointed to the ?huge responsibility? that came with being first, as dozens of companies hope to open similar websites in Nevada and other states.
Keith S Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, said ?the internet poses risks for problem gambling,? and pointed to data from Europe that suggests that frequent gambling on the internet is associated with problem gambling, or addictive behaviour.
Whyte said he wants to see online gambling in the United States unfold with controls like those in Europe, including software that tracks gambling behaviour online and displays for users information like account balances and time spent playing. He said that Nevada?s legislation did not have such requirements.