With regulation of online poker in certain parts of the US seemingly only a matter of time, another casino owner in Las Vegas seems to be getting ready.
Yesterday, American Casino & Entertainment Properties launched acePLAYpoker.com, a free to play online poker site. The Nevada Gaming Commission gave approval as an interactive gaming operator to this company back in September, and this seems to be the result of that approval.
“With the launch of this free to play website, we can now bring the excitement of play found at our properties to anyone with Internet access, no matter their location,” said Alec Driscoll, the company’s Director of gaming development on their blog. “We are also positioning ACEP and acePLAYpoker.com for the potential approval of legalized online gaming.”
acePlaypoker.com is offering prizes on the site, including show tickets, free hotel stays, and thrill rides at The Stratosphere all at no cost to the player. The face of the site is Playboy’s 2011 “Playmate of the Year,” Claire Sinclair, who is about to open a show at the Stratosphere Theatre.
With Nevada pushing forward towards a state (and possible intra-state) regulated online gaming marketplace, this is the latest in a long list of casino operators preparing for what most analysts are saying is inevitable.
With Nevada and Delaware both having statutes on the books to allow online gaming, and with New Jersey not far behind, this lucrative market appears to be opening up to US based businesses, but the technology seems to be lagging behind what is already in the market place. Deals are thought to have been struck between casino operators and Bwin.Party and 888 to allow their proven technology into the US market, with industry leading The Rational Group, going as far as buying casinos to facilitate access to the US for their Pokerstars and Full Tilt brands.
With these industry leaders bringing in proven technology to this newly regulated market place, and casinos also launching new software solutions, customers are going to be given a massive choice in the online market. This is bound to lead to some casualties in the early days of online gaming regulation in the US, and I would be surprised if any of the established online sites are part of the cull.