Nevada may Clamp Down on Online Casino and Poker Advertising

Legislators in Nevada are considering closing down on so-called “.net” gambling portals, which could effectively cut off several streams of revenue for some of the biggest online casino and poker websites. Current legislation states that sites which openly allow US players to wager online are not allowed to advertise during events such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and other televised poker tournaments. However, companies such as Full Tilt advertise the non-profit aspects of their business, such as FullTilt.net, which acts as a poker tuition website, through tourneys such as the NBC-aired National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

A member of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Randall Sayre, suggested that the board does not have any specific legislation to cope with .net tuition sites, noting that “some gaming licensees play carefully by the rules and others do not”. Gaming attorney Frank Schreck also suggested that there’s confusion in the industry with regards to what constitutes acceptable advertising and what does not, noting that “all we're asking is (for the Nevada Gaming Control Board) to tell us what is permissible”. Sayre has urged for the board “to take a hard stand as to what is suitable and what is not suitable”.