Caesars Entertainment, the only online poker operator in Nevada with WSOP.com, is opposing a bill in the state legislature that would require operators to provide the Nevada Gaming Commission a list of players with suspended or banned accounts. The bill is an attempt to identify poker cheats who hide behind false screen names.
Critics have criticized the bill, cleared by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, for putting the onus on operators to create what would amount to a “Black Book” of online gaming customers. Entry into the brick-and-mortar Black Book requires authorization by both the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Gaming Commission.
Caesars lobbyist Mike Alonso told the Assembly committee that publicly listing bad “will only lead to expensive and burdensome litigation for damaging someone’s reputation, or from players who think that they lost money to an alleged cheater and want compensation,” according to casino.org.
Alonso added that cheating is already under the purview of the Gaming Control Board.
“We cooperate with them and provide whatever we are required through reports,” Alonso told the committee. “But we don’t make (the cheating) determination. They’re a law enforcement agency and they go through a process.”
Transparency for online poker is being criticized for putting iGaming operators in a position to create what would amount to a Black Book of excluded poker players, a role designated to Nevada regulators for physical casinos.
The bill, sponsored by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, would require the Nevada Gaming Commission to create a list of people whose online gaming accounts have been suspended or banned. As drafted, the legislation would require online poker operators to provide the names. Additions to the Black Book of excluded persons from Nevada casinos require approval by the commission and the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
According to a report in the Nevada Independent, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager is working with Sara Cholhagian Ralston, a professional poker player who was formerly executive director of the Nevada Patient Protection Commission, to modify the language of the bill.
