The chief executive officer of a prominent US gambling company has voiced his opinion that Nevada and New Jersey will sign an interstate online poker compact next year.
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Speaking at a conference call regarding second quarter earnings, Jim Murren, the chief executive officer (CEO) for MGM Resorts International, said: “I think it’s likely that in 2014 we’ll see a compact between Nevada and New Jersey.” He further added, “We’ve really been focusing on Nevada’s ability to compact with other states, create more liquidity.”
Nevada lawmakers had approved an amendment to the state’s online gambling laws earlier this year. These amendments permit the governor of Nevada to sign interstate online poker compacts, which allow poker players residing in one US state to play at online poker rooms licensed in another state. So far, no US state has gotten into interstate online poker compacts with any other state. Nevada has only one online poker room Ultimate Poker, and the state’s online poker regulations permit this site to accept only players based in Nevada.
Interstate online poker compacts will greatly benefit Nevada, a state with the 35th largest population in the US. Nevada’s online poker rooms will find it very difficult to get traffic considering the fact that not all the residents of Nevada can play poker, especially when more and more gambling companies launch online poker products in the state. New Jersey, which has the 11th largest population in the US, will not face such problems. Forming interstate online poker compacts, therefore, will greatly benefit Nevada as it will permit Nevada’s online poker rooms to accept players from New Jersey too.
Delaware, another US state that has legalized online poker, will be happy to form interstate online poker compacts as it is one of the smallest of US states and has a tiny population of less than one million people.
Previously, there were rumors that New Jersey might not be in favor of interstate online poker compacts, but the truth is that New Jersey sees great opportunities in the formation of such compacts. A Reuters report has quoted David Rebuck, the director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), as saying that “future opportunities for growth and development with other jurisdictions” are possible.
Nevada State Gaming Control Board Chairman A. G. Burnett has voiced a similar opinion while stating that Nevada is “striving to do what it can in regards to compacts.”
