Former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli knows online gaming as well as anyone. After being appointed to the Board in 2009, Lipparelli eventually was at the forefront of the Silver State’s charge into the Internet gaming business.
In late 2011, Nevada became the first state in U.S. history to adopt regulations for online poker. Lipparelli stayed on the Board until September of last year, stepping down because he had chosen not to serve another term. Thanks to leaving his position as a regulator, Lipparelli has returned to the private sector and has been working on a couple of projects in addition to some consulting.
Card Player had a chance to speak with him on Friday about what he sees happening in the near future with legal and regulated online gaming in the United States. He weighed in on federal efforts, which he said are likely dead, and what the industry will look like with states making arrangements to share player pools, and thus revenues.
Brian Pempus: What do you make of Nevada’s progress in the online gaming realm in the time since you left the Gaming Control Board?
Mark Lipparelli: Nevada is ready for its next chapter. Getting established was an important milestone, but now the policymakers need to focus on expanding to additional markets.
BP: Do you see a Nevada-New Jersey compact coming sometime next year like it was speculated by MGM’s CEO Jim Murren?
ML: I would say that it’s likely that state-to-state, multiple-market initiatives will begin in 2014. It’s a little more challenging to peg which states. I’m a believer that we’re going to see states begin to compact with each other or even allow cross-border access to markets, and maybe it wouldn’t even require a compact of any kind. That’s a likely thing to occur.
BP: Were Nevada’s web gaming regulations crafted by the Gaming Control Board in such a way to give flexibility to such opportunities and to mesh well with other jurisdictions that might have their own regulations?
ML: I think they were. It’s important that it’s done in that manner. The notion of having far-reaching agreements is not the right direction. Instead, permissions between states are more likely the way to go. I don’t think far-reaching agreements or compacts are a smart approach. That becomes too complex, and I think it will lead to long gaps of time. The more the policymakers can remain flexible the better off they’ll be.
The full interview the the former Chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board was originally published on the Card Player website.
