Online poker site PokerStars is now backing a Nevada online gaming bill that would force the Gaming Commission to create regulations permitting online poker.
PokerStars has hired Randall Sayre, a former Nevada Gaming Control Board member, as a consultant to increase their influence in the US online poker market. Sayre believes the state should act now and capitalise on the economic opportunities available if the measure is passed into law. "We can stand on the beach and let it wash over us, or we can recognise the potential economic opportunity for the state," he commented.
Former Nevada assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, who is also PokerStars’ legislative lobbyist, added: "I see internet gaming as the next extension of how Nevada reinvents itself. This is the growth vehicle for the gaming industry worldwide."
The AB 258 measure proposed in Nevada, which will be considered by the Assembly Judiciary Committee On March 24, would allow PokerStars to receive a gaming licence in the state.
