Nevada sets out celebrity endorsement rules
New Gaming Commission rules also forbid player-to-player transfers and add new service provider definitions.
Amendments to Nevada’s gaming regulations will permit online poker operators to recruit celebrity endorsers, while transfers between players will be banned.
The new rules written by the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) also specify individual classes of service providers to include those offering services such as geolocation, player identification and payment processing.
With operators likely to recruit celebrities and poker professionals in the new Nevada market, the NGC has specified that endorsers may not play under secondary accounts while receiving sponsored benefits, so as to ensure that they are clearly identifiable.
The regulations state: “Operators may use a celebrity player for marketing purposes to attract authorised players if the operator clearly identifies the celebrity player to the authorised players and does not profit beyond the rake.”
Another amendment will see player-to-player transfers prohibited, meaning that the only transfers permitted will be between the players and the online poker site. This amendment is likely to have been made to address fears of money laundering.
In a draft of further proposed changes, specific classes of service providers have been defined so as to differentiate them from those operating or maintaining software and hardware.
Regulation 5 now includes the definitions ‘patron identification service provider’, ‘payment processing service provider’ and ‘geolocation service provider’.
These terms reflect the applications of player identification service providers such as Player Verify, which applied for a licence in August, and payment processor Global Cash Access, which received its licence last month.
Last week, American Casino & Entertainment Properties (ACEP), the owner of the Stratosphere Casino, was given a recommendation from the Gaming Control Board for an operator licence, with the hearing scheduled for 20 September.
Monarch and South Point Poker have already been awarded licenses to offer online poker, with South Point owner Michael Gaughan optimistic the operator will go live this fall.
PokerTrip Enterprises, a Las Vegas-based online poker marketing affiliate, has also become the first affiliate to receive approval for licensing by the Gaming Control Board.