G2 confident of regulatory clearance in California 10/06/2009
Stephen Carter
GTech’s newly rebranded online gaming arm G2 has told eGaming Review it’s confident US legacy issues would not prevent it from meeting licensing requirements for legalised online poker in California, should the opportunity arise.
Responding to the question as to whether or not he thought the fact that casino and poker sites on its Boss Media platform had taken US players prior to passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act could prove a stumbling block in any prospective licensing process, G2 president Atul Bali told eGaming Review: “We are confident that GTech will successfully meet any licensing requirements that may be required in any jurisdiction around the globe.”
Jim Tabilio, president of the Poker Voters of America advocacy group working on a bill to legalise online poker within the state, recently told eGaming Review that stakeholders were looking to award the software contract to a single operator, and that the model they were examining was the California lottery run by G2 parent company GTech (more).
On GTech’s positioning in California, Bali told eGaming Review: “The California situation is extremely complex and the state will decide if, when and how they will regulate poker. There really isn't an active discussion of it right now. However, we are well positioned to play an active role should the opportunity become more active.”
In response to California-based provider CyberArts throwing down the gauntlet to “strategic competitor” GTech ahead of the proposed legalisation (more), Bali said he believed his company had several important factors in its favour.
“Having served the California lottery for 16 years, we have a large presence in the state and work with the most geographically diverse regulated gaming business in the state. We also have a proven track record in working with government in all forms of gaming, including poker,” explained Bali.
CyberArts chairman Ken Arnold said he was similarly confident US legacy issues would not prevent his company meeting any future licensing requirements for a contract in California.
“We were purely a technology provider for Mansion, which exited the US market promptly on UIGEA. We never ran their room or had access to their database. We are not, have not been and will not be operators as we’d be competing with our customers and be working in an area which is not our core expertise,” said Arnold.
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Posted: 10/06/2009
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