The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has launched an independent review of its “actions and response” to the colossal clusterfuck that is/was former AGCC licensee Full Tilt Poker (FTP). The AGCC has appointed Peter Dean, former chairman of the UK Gambling Commission, to conduct the review. Dean has been asked to “focus specifically on the appropriateness, timeliness and fairness” of the AGCC’s behavior.
AGCC exec director André Wilsenach released a statement saying that while the AGCC feels it acted “appropriately and fairly” in its handling of the FTP situation (you’ll notice he left out ‘timely’), the “inevitable questions that have been raised by third parties” convinced the AGCC of the necessity of bringing in an outsider to at least give the impression that someone’s holding their feet to the fire. Dean’s final report and recommendations are to be presented to the AGCC by the end of March 2012.
Interestingly, the AGCC’s announcement of its upcoming colonoscopy comes just days after Alderney’s director of e-commerce, Robin Le Prevost, told Tax-news.com that the island’s online gambling sector had an “excellent year … the middle of 2010 had been relatively quiet but we ended the year strongly. That growth has increased throughout 2011 and we are absolutely delighted with the activity attracted to Alderney. When it comes to regulatory stability, knowledge, reputation, tax and technical infrastructure we are clearly at the top of the pile.” Lest anyone get the impression that Alderney officials spend most of their waking hours sucking their own dicks, Le Prevost says Alderney “will not rest on its laurels for one minute … and we will continue to encourage and attract the highest quality of operators to join us here in the islands.” (Add your own punchline.)
In other regulatory news, Wednesday saw the Nevada Gaming Control Board hold its latest hearing on the state’s proposed online poker regulations. CardPlayer.com’s Brian Pempus reports that reps from 888 Holdings, International Game Technology (both of which have already submitted applications for online poker licenses) and Fertitta Entertainment were on hand to offer concerns and helpful suggestions – like allowing new players to wager real money at the virtual tables more or less immediately upon signing up, giving them a 30-day window in which to play before having to submit verifiable documentation. (Good luck with that one.)
Other discussions centered around rake limits and the need to include tournament-specific percentages in the bill’s language, plus questions of whether different skins on the same network would allow a player to simultaneously play under two screen names. From here, the NGCB sends its recommendations down the hall to the Nevada Gaming Commission, who will hold their own hearing Dec. 22. Then, assuming Santa Claus isn’t shot down over Carson City by an overzealous Homeland Security drone operator, Nevada could have their regs in place by January and start issuing licenses as early as February.
