Assembly OKs stripped-down online poker bill

CARSON CITY -- The state Assembly on Thursday passed a stripped-down Internet gambling bill calling for the state to develop a licensing process for online poker businesses, a month after the U.S. industry melted down amid federal indictments.

Members of the Assembly unanimously passed the measure, which calls on Nevada regulators to design rules that would only take effect after the federal government legalizes online gambling. It now goes to the Senate, and the sponsor said he expects it will pass on that side.

Online gambling has been mired anew in controversy since the U.S. Justice Department indicted executives of three top online poker sites April 15, charging them with violating federal law. The sites have been shut down to U.S. players.

"It highlights that there's a need," said Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, whose committee sponsors the bill.

The bill was backed by PokerStars, one of the companies targeted by the federal government, and originally called for the legalization of online poker in Nevada.

But a policy committee cut the boldest elements of the bill four days before the federal indictments became public.

Now, the bill calls for the Nevada Gaming Commission to develop regulations and a path to licensure for online gambling businesses by January 2012 and keep them in the can so they're ready "the day the (federal) law passes," Horne said.