New legislation has been introduced in Nevada to combat online poker cheating. The legislation aims to establish a “Black Book” for players to track those who have been caught cheating. The Nevada Gaming Commission would be responsible for compiling and managing the list, which would include the names of individuals with interactive gaming accounts who have been suspended or banned for cheating.
The bill has been referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, and if passed, banned players added to the online poker cheating list would have the right to appeal and challenge their inclusion. The bill’s proponents, including professional poker player Sara Cholhagian Ralston and Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, believe it would increase transparency in Nevada’s online poker community. However, the bill’s language may require operators to provide the names of individuals, unlike the state’s List of Excluded Persons, which requires nomination and approval by the Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission.
Ralston added that the intent of the legislation is to protect the players. “A lot of these online players hide behind a screen name. We have no idea who they are. The idea is to provide more information to the player… This was never intended to be an overburden on the operator, because cheating is so hard to define, especially in the online space.”
While the bill’s impact on the Caesars-run World Series of Poker, the only active online poker site in Nevada, is uncertain, the state’s participation in a Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement underscores the importance of addressing online poker cheating. Yeager, who is also a part-time poker player, suggests that the bill’s language should be more narrowly focused to increase transparency and accountability in the poker community.