Nevada Begins Testing Phase With New Online Poker Site

Online gambling in the state of Nevada has officially begun. After years of legal haggling, and months of anticipation, Ultimatepoker.com went live this week for the first time. While the site is operational, it is only launched for testing purposes.

“It is smart what the state and Station Casinos is doing,” said Analyst Terry Grant. “If there are going to be malfunctions, it is better to launch a real site and work through the problems early on, before dozens of sites are up and running.”

Station Casinos operates over a dozen casinos in Nevada, and was granted the opportunity to open their online poker room on a trial basis. Before the company officially gets a permanent license, regulators want to see that all safeguards are in place.

Among the aspects of online gambling that are being tested are whether or not age verification systems are working, and a assurance that only Nevada residents can access and gamble on the site.

“It is a work in progress,” said Grant. “In one way it is a great opportunity for Station Casinos to show that they can lead Nevada and the entire US into the Internet gambling era. On the other hand, that type of honor comes with tremendous responsibilty to prove those against online gambling regulation wrong.”

Ultimate Poker Chairman Tom Breitling was already boasting about being the first-ever regulated online poker room in the US. Breitling has been shocked by the overwhelming amount of poker players that have checked out the site, not only in Nevada, but all across the US.

Players outside of Nevada can access Ultimate Poker’s website, but are unable to play for real money at the casino. That may change in the future with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signing a bill that will allow Nevada to partner with other states that regulate online gambling, to create a network where gamblers can play at any casino in the network.

Nevada has been in a race with Delaware and New Jersey to become the first state to offer online casinos to their residents. With Ultimate Poker, Nevada has now won that race, and regulators are moving forward with licensing dozens of additional online gaming providers.