WMS Industries Applies for a New Nevada Interactive Gambling License

WMS Industries, one of the top gaming device makers in the world has applied for an interactive gambling license from Nevada in a bid to be ready to pounce when the ability to play online poker in United States becomes a reality later this year.

Joining some of their fierce rivals including IGT, Aristocrat and Bally Technologies in the line to land an online poker license, WMS sees it as a great opportunity to expand their business after successfully running Jackpot Party, a UK online gambling site, and social media games on Facebook.

The submission to the State Gaming Control Board in Nevada comes after changes to the American gambling laws now allow for individual states to make up their own minds as to whether or not online gambling is in fact legal or illegal in their realm. Sports betting however will remain illegal under federal law.

Whilst several states are just a signature away from pushing through the necessary legislation that would effectively legalize online gambling, Nevada, rather unsurprisingly is practically finished already, with the licensing offices full to the brim, and the licenses themselves literally ready to be handed out.

The move comes just a year after four of the world leading online poker sites, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, Poker Stars and UB were shut down in the US due to breaching the federal wire act about online gambling.

The Justice Department has since then stated that only online sports betting breaches the act, and now the states, in absence of any federal law are taking matters into their own hands.

The President of WMS, Orrin Edidin when asked about the submission commented that: “we have made significant progress in our development of a technology and entertainment content base that will help our customers unlock the emerging opportunities provided through online capabilities.”

“The filing of WMS interactive gaming application with the SGCB in Nevada represents an important milestone in our efforts to support our customers needs with a full array of products and managed services in the online and interactive arenas,” he continued.

It is widely reported that over the coming months as other states begin to adjust their gambling laws, online poker sites in United States will spring up in their hundreds, perhaps thousands meaning it might not just be the State Gaming Control Board in Nevada, that comes under the spotlight.