by Mario Alfonsi | Published on May 15, 2012 | Updated on May 15, 2012It may be slow in coming, but online poker in the state of Nevada will be a reality soon. But according to a meeting held Monday, it may not quite as soon as some players – and potential operators – were hoping.Monday, the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee met to discuss when licenses would be awarded to the many operators and software providers who have applied for them, and when the first sites might become live in the state. According to Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli, the first licenses will likely come in a month to two months. That’s slightly later than many had originally hoped, but not a major delay.However, players will still have to wait for some time before the first sites will go live. There is expected to be a fairly extensive testing process before citizens at large are allowed to play online poker in Nevada – a process that is expected to take six to eight months.After that period, the first sites would be allowed to open. If the time estimates are accurate, that would put the launch period at somewhere between January and March 2013.At the moment, Nevada is the only state in the USA to have passed a law legalizing the regulation of online poker. While several other states have made concerted efforts to do so – in particular, New Jersey and California – no legislation has actually made it into law. New Jersey’s legislature came the closest last year, when a bill made it to Governor Chris Christie’s desk before being vetoed. There are hopes in that state that a new effort this year will meet with Christie’s approval, and that perhaps the state can even beat Nevada to the punch and get their sites live before the end of the year.The Gaming Policy Committee meeting also discussed the issue of online poker security. Headlining the speakers was bwin.party CEO Jim Ryan, who spoke about the measures the company takes to prevent fraud, player collusion and underage gambling in Europe.
