South Point Re-Launches Nevada Online Poker Site, Peppermill Resort to Offer Cyber Poker As Well
RealGaming.com began its real money online poker operation back on January 18, available to all Nevada residents and visitors. The site joined Ultimate Poker and the World Series of Poker Internet poker properties as the only three to offer virtual shuffle up and deal options for Silver State card players. The site never really got started with any momentum however, due to multiple software and player verification problems. The website, owned by Michael Gaughan’s South Point hotel and casino, is now back in action, offering tournament play and cash games. Support is offered for both Mac and PC computers, as well as smartphones, tablets and mobile computers.
The rough start is not unnatural for a company launching Internet gambling since the Department of Justice gave legislative ability for online wagering to individual states. There were problems in Delaware, New Jersey and also in Nevada with other companies when they were getting their virtual Vegas style gambling operations online. Lawrence Vaughan is a technology expert who also happens to be Real Gaming’s CEO. He said that he believes the big difference between the Real Gaming Internet gambling portal and those offered by its two competitors is the ability to “access the site on any device, anywhere and anytime.”
State gaming regulators in Nevada have placed several requirements on those websites which they have licensed to offer Internet poker. Qualification takes up to 30 days to complete, and after the less than promising start, gaming regulators will have to reevaluate the operation as it attempts a second launch. The Nevada online gambling industry has not produced revenue data, as the states online gambling regulatory body stated they would not disclose financial information regarding online gambling revenue until at least three sites were up and running. However, industry analyst Union Gaming Group estimates that the WSOP and UP online poker sites generate anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000 in revenue every month in their online poker offerings that include Vegas poker tournaments.
New Jersey owns the largest online gambling market in the United States, producing roughly $9.5 million in revenue in January. That was a 28% rise from the previous month, and that state benefits from online casino activity as well as online poker, offered through six Internet casinos. Gaughan has previous experience building poker websites, as he was the first casino operator in Nevada to deliver a free play poker site back in October 2011. In other Vegas online poker news, the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino announced at the end of last week that they were forming a partnership with Ultimate Gaming to deliver online poker access to its customers.
Owned by Station Casinos, based in Las Vegas, Ultimate Gaming already operates the Ultimate Poker website in Nevada. The online poker play which Peppermill will be offering is to be confined to that company’s properties until the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission approve the website for delivery of online poker to the entire state of Nevada. Peppermill owns and operates a Reno property, the Western Village Inn & Casino in Sparks and three hotel casinos in Wendover, near the Utah state line. Nevada’s Governor Brian Sandoval just last week signed an agreement with Delaware Governor Jack Markell linking the two states for online poker play. The Peppermill partnership with Ultimate Gaming means both of those companies could benefit from the much larger New Jersey poker playing population.