Nevada Aims to Simplify Cashless Gaming Sign-Up

Historically, Nevada has been slow to adopt online gambling products. That’s not overly surprising considering the state’s reliance on tourism and, specifically, gambling tourism.

That said, the state isn’t a technology Luddite. It’s simply protectionist. A prime example is the state’s preposterous policy of requiring sports bettors to register their online accounts in-person at a casino contrasted with the recent news the state is considering remote sign-up and verification of cashless payment accounts. Put plainly, Nevada wants bettors to register in-person to bet on their mobile devices but is more than happy to allow remote registration for cashless transactions at casinos.

As reported in CDC Gaming News, “The Nevada Gaming Control Board held a 70-minute workshop … to discuss the proposal… It’s expected to come before the three-member board at a regular meeting in the future, while the Nevada Gaming Commission has the final say.”

Sightline Payments Leads the Charge

The request was made by Sightline Payments, which launched the first property-wide casino cashless payment system at Resorts World earlier this year.

Sightline co-founder Omer Sattar is hoping the state will change its regulations on Nevada cashless payment accounts to match the way the state deals with online poker, as long lines have made the process of creating a cashless account “far from optimal.”

Far from optimal doesn’t fully convey how cumbersome the current process is.

“At Resorts World, primarily because of the ID verification issue, in the absolute best of cases the time was six minutes,” CDC quoted Sattar as saying. “In reality, the time was more like two hours. That included paper forms being filled out, people writing Social Security numbers on pieces of paper and handing them to cage personnel, and cage personnel trying to identify each person by looking at their ID. Our partners have been quite successful, but the experience from a user perspective [hasn’t been]. The lines have been hundreds of people long waiting to enroll and fund and play. That’s what we’re trying to solve over here.”

One objection came from Station Casinos, which argued that because cashless gaming would be used inside casinos, it falls outside the umbrella of online gambling regulations and must adhere to the industry’s strict AML laws.

Nevada Enters the 21^st Century

As bad a rap as Nevada gets on the online gambling front, it’s important to note that the state was the first to offer online sports betting apps and later online poker, which launched in April 2013.

Peering into the future, remote registration for sports betting apps is on the table, as is expanding into online casino.

In a previous workshop held in May, a list of 15 suggested changes offered by regulators includes the removal of “provisions limiting interactive gaming to the game of poker,” adding “all games offered on an interactive gaming system,” and amending “authorized player requirements.”

Of course, Nevada is the one state where a logical argument can be made for in-person registration. While it will always be far from optimal from a player’s perspective, Nevada’s population is clustered in and around the many casinos in Las Vegas.