Nevada green lights wireless gaming bill

Mobile gaming (mgaming) firms have hailed the passage of a bill by the Nevada Assembly that will permit ‘wireless’ casino gaming in the public areas of casinos in the state.
The Nevada Assembly unanimously approved Assembly Bill No. 471, which now passes to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Casinos are expected to use the legalisation to allow customers to gamble on hand-held computers issued by the casino.

And Ken Chua, chief executive of software firm Chimera, said its potential passage represented a huge leap forward for the sector.

“If Bill No. 471 is approved, as expected, this will be a great milestone for this industry as it will add legitimacy and credibility,” he said.

Chimera is hoping to launch its mobile gaming platform in July 2005, which will allow its licensees to offer games on cellular phones and other wireless mobile devices such as PDA’s.

“We anticipated some time ago the timing to enter the wireless mobile gaming sector was right and we are glad to see recent developments have shown we made the correct decision,” Chua said.

The Bill’s chances are rated as good to pass the senate vote, and another technology expressed confidence in its progress.

Wireless gaming firm Diamond said it expected the Bill to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by the governor during the current legislative session.

The bill is a relatively small opportunity for the emerging mgaming sector, with gaming restricted to the public areas of casinos with more than 100 slot machines.