MGM Will be ‘Punished’ if They Don’t Get Internet Poker Right in US

CardPlayer.com reports that Nevada Internet poker licenses will not be ready until June and it will take a prolonged period beyond that for testing to occur before sites can go live for real money play.

GM Resorts CEO Jim Murren was among those who met at the Clark County Government Center during a recent gathering of would be US-based Internet poker pioneers. 

Mullen insisted that the industry must “acknowledge that this revolution is upon us" while another high level executive at one of the largest casino companies in the world issued a more dire warning to MGM, according to the CardPlayer.com report.

“MGM will be punished” if it messes up with online gaming early on, the executive stated. 

“We have a lot at stake,” Murren acknowledged.

Already, one of the leading international firms appears to be getting off to a rough start in the world of yet-to-be-regulated US-facing online gambling establishments.

Gambling911.com reported late Thursday that the United Kingdom’s biggest bookmaker, William Hill, was under intense scrutiny by Nevada regulators.  It has been in the process of attempting to acquire some Nevada-based sports betting firms.  William Hill also operates an Internet poker room and a Web casino business. 

Nevada has shown little interest in bringing sports betting online especially with the federal government’s stance against such activity. 

New Jersey, on the other hand, seems to be moving full steam ahead in its efforts to bring all forms of gambling online, including sports wagering.

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher