Gambling state positions itself for legalised online poker.

A bill positioning the gambling state of Nevada to benefit from any federal legalisation of internet poker has passed through the Assembly, albeit in a somewhat stripped down form.

The bill calls for the state to develop a licensing process for online poker businesses by January 2012, and has passed barely a month after Black Friday, when federal enforcement officials shut down the US operations of Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker.

The Associated Press news agency reports that the Nevada Assembly unanimously passed the measure, which calls on Nevada regulators to design rules that would only take effect after the federal government legalises online gambling.

A federal bill has already been introduced in Congress, authored by Congressmen Barney Frank and John Campbell.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where author Assemblyman William Horne expects it will pass, leaving only the governor's signature to bring it into law.

Horne, who had originally proposed that Pokerstars be allowed to license, said the measure highlighted a need.

"Where there's a void of regulation, there's corruption," he claimed.

Horne's bill stipulates that online sites would need to have a partnership with an existing non-restricted gambling license holder or an affiliate that has been in business for at least five years.

Source: InfoPowa News