Last week, legislation was introduced in the Nevada Assembly that would look to create a “Black Book” for online poker players. The bill is called AB380 and would give the Nevada Gaming Commission the power to maintain and police a list of people known to have cheated in the online game. The bill has been sent to its appropriate committee, the Assembly Judiciary Committee, but there is not a partner bill in the Nevada Senate, something that would be necessary for the bill to move forward.
The proposed legislation is the brainchild of Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) and the former Patient Protection Commission Executive Director, Sara Cholhagian Ralston. The bill would depend on the online poker operators, presumably only those in the state of Nevada, to provide a list of whom they have banned from their sites for cheating the game. This would provide a level of transparency and protection for players that currently does not exist, according to Ralston.
There’s a reason for the drive to further regulate online poker sites. As a part of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, there is a need to ensure that the games are legitimate. Through the regulation (and banishment) of players from the sites involved, it is hoped that the integrity of the game is maintained.
Not everyone is on board with the efforts in the Assembly, however. Caesars Entertainment, which operates the WSOP.com site in Nevada, vehemently opposes the intrusion by the state legislature into their operations.
Danielle Barille, the Vice President of online poker for Caesars Digital, stated that WSOP.com already goes to great lengths to prevent cheaters from playing on the site.
The organization that would be responsible for administering the “Black Book,” the Nevada Gaming Control Board, surprisingly has not taken a position on the subject as of yet.
