Almost ready to rumble, or gamble, with a new hand held devices

Reports from Associated Press recently revealed that the company who will be involved in the regulation and licensing that will be needed in order to market the new hand-held, mobile gambling devices in Nevada state.
The same company led the 2005 legislative push to allow wireless gambling in the same state.
Cantor Gaming was recommended by the state's Gaming Control Board. It is Nevada's first licensed manufacturer and distributor of the wireless devices. The Gaming Commission, the board's superior state, will give the final agreement on the licensing during a meeting in mid-May.

When Cantor's Managing Director and Vice-President, Joe Asher, promised to invest significant amounts of capital into installing mobile gambling systems in Nevada hotel-casinos, the board was quick to endorse them.

according to Asher, the devices will attract younger gamblers in their twenties and thirties. These types of individuals would have grown up with the various games and technologies such as cell phones and video games. Those older gamblers who have had access and use much of this technology will also be attracted to the new conventions.
Nevada was the first state to pass regulation and approve the use of these hand held devices for the purpose of gambling. The regulations were passed earlier on this year. They were based on last year's legislation.
The devices are permitted for play in any public area of Nevada's casinos. This includes restaurants and pool sides. The games cannot be played in areas lacking in supervision such as hotel rooms, etc.
The games available include: bingo, poker, blackjack and horse race betting.
Several major industry leaders have decided to postpone immediate action. Instead they would rather wait and see how the regulations and technology develop.
Operators such as Harrah's Entertainment Inc and MGM Mirage Inc. as well as Station Casinos Inc are amongst this group. Boyd Gaming Corp, a company with holdings in Stardust in Las Vegas as well as part ownership in Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has been luke warm to the idea of the hand held devices. According to their spokesman, they are uncertain of the real demand for the gadgets.

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