In June of this year The Nevada Gaming Control Board approved two separate companies to act as independent testing labs for interactive gaming. The companies are Gaming Laboratories International, LLC and BMM International, LLC. The Silver State is exhibiting an encouraging amount of forethought as it forges a regulatory framework for online poker.

Outsourcing this work has several important benefits. First, the pace of technological change in both software and Internet access technologies is so fast that government employed regulators will have a very difficult time keeping up. They lack the resources and expertise that super specialized technology companies have. Regulators will be able to leverage this expertise and focus on enforcing rules, setting policy, staying current with the innovations and broad trends in the industry, and certifying the independent testing labs.

According to newly passed interactive gaming laws in Nevada, manufacturers will pick up the costs off the testing labs. Once the equipment or software platform has passed this round of testing it will face a final round of examination by the Gaming Control Board Staff.

The survival of online poker industry will fully depend on the security and fairness of the game. The old world/first wave of illicit poker sites that dominated the early 2000s will not suffice in the new era of legal, state (or federally) sanctioned, and taxed poker. Online poker, with real money wagering, is legal in Nevada now. It will be subject to fierce scrutiny and there will be zero tolerance for shenanigans by site owners and cheaters.

Independent testing labs will be expected to constantly test the security of sites and will be responsible for identifying potential vulnerabilities as early as possible. One can envision these companies tenaciously working to find weak points before the criminals and fraudsters have a chance to exploit them.

The first two companies approved by Nevada have longstanding reputations within the gaming industry. Gaming Laboratories has, over the past two decades, tested and certifed gaming devices in hundreds of gaming jurisdictions worldwide. Interactive gaming and online poker are relatively new fields, however the company does have some experience in testing online gaming systems. Both companies are gearing up for this new business by expanding their facilities and hiring more staff.