The ongoing process of legalizing or trying to legalize online poker in America is underway and seems to have been set in motion in a few US states, of which Nevada has been on the forefront.
Recent news reports reveal that the state of Nevada might just have what it takes to make US poker players happy. It is quite possible that the state will soon have one online poker room ready to offer legalized gambling services to the people. South Point Poker recently announced that it is anticipating the launch of its first-ever legalized poker platform, which might offer real money to play.
The state of Nevada is the front-runner when it comes to legalizing poker, while other states like Colorado are clearly lagging behind. Initially, the gaming officials in the Silver State proposed to get the online platform up-and-running by the holidays (late December) or by early 2013. However, South Point Poker jumped a few leaps ahead and sent their operating systems for testing to a third party testing firm. This move is sure to get South Point Poker’s system ready to go live with real money poker by fall, around the same time that the legal gambling license is expected to come through.
Currently, South Point Poker is finishing its second round of testing and has not encountered any problems. The CEO of South Point Poker, Michael Gaughan is more than well aware of the fact that although his company is not the biggest or the best when it comes to poker on the market. However, he is optimistic that this head start would help him beat the big brands like Caesars and MGM.
As of now, his company is at a small disadvantage of being the first to launch. Since South Point Poker would be the first legal US online poker site, the gaming regulations might be tighter in comparison than that of those sites that will come up later. These regulations would require the company to move slower, which South Point has to consider. In any case, Gaughan is optimistic that by year-end, South Poker’s site would be far ahead of the other sites set to launch.
South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa applied for its license to the Nevada Gaming Control Board few months ago. The license is expected to come in by August end. Normally, the next step in this process would be to send the license to the Nevada Gaming Commission for the final stamp of approval. Following the licensing, the site would need to send its software and components through to the testing phase. The testing phase generally takes months to complete and is outsourced to a third-party testing firm.
