Nevada: Bill seeking to increase transparency in online poker fails to pass in the Legislature

A proposed bill aimed at increasing transparency in Nevada's online poker scene has failed to progress in the state's legislative process. AB380 sought to establish a list of individuals with interactive gaming accounts who had been suspended or banned for cheating.

Sara Cholhagian Ralston, the bill's primary supporter, later amended the bill, removing the term "cheating" and any reference to suspensions or bans related to cheating. Instead, the revised bill proposed creating a list of all players with an account and their status. Despite the recent failure, Ralston said the conversation surrounding poker transparency in Nevada “is too important to be abandoned, and I hope it will continue,” she commented, according to The Nevada Independent. 

However, Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Brittney Miller (D-Las Vegas) announced last week that there were insufficient votes to advance AB380. Caesars Entertainment, the operator of Nevada's only poker website based on the company-owned World Series of Poker, opposed the legislation.

The company's lobbyist, Michael Alonso, argued that the bill would impose a burden on Caesars, which already takes "everything reasonably possible to keep bad actors off the [online poker] site." 

Sara Cholhagian Ralston

Ralston stated that if Nevada gaming regulators do not introduce more transparency to online poker, she plans to reintroduce the bill in the 2025 legislative session. "As someone who cares deeply about the poker industry, I brought this issue forward because of my moral compass and the belief that transparency is crucial to protect the integrity of the game," she said, as reported by the above-mentioned media.

Nevada legalized online poker in 2013, but gaming companies have argued that the state is too small to support multiple sites, leaving Caesars as the sole operator.

Nevada is part of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, which was established in 2014 with Delaware to expand the player pool for two of the smallest states in terms of population. New Jersey joined in 2017, followed by Michigan in 2021.

Additionally, since 2012, six states—Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—have legalized online casino gaming.