The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s most recently outlined regulations have answered quite a number of concerns that pertain to integrity, security, advertising, as well as the location of the gaming servers. Even though there are still some pending questions regarding the Keystone State’s forthcoming online gambling sites with one of the pressing ones being the issue of skins, they all will be addressed during the next meeting.
The board approved the preliminary online casino and online poker regulations this week. However, according to Online Poker Report, both are temporary regulations but they will be dealing with certain key issues such as interactive gaming platforms requirements and interactive gaming testing and controls. Still, until these regulations are published in the PA Bulletin, from which they are presently absent, they will not be considered as official.
Protecting the Players
The main point of focus of the recent regulations is the security and integrity of the interactive gaming operations and how they affect players. As such, player access, server security, server location and platform inoperability were critical aspects that needed to be put into consideration.
Keeping this in mind, one of the new regulations requires that interactive gaming equipment such as servers may be situated in restricted areas of licensed facilities. The areas must be approved and can be located at any location in the United States on condition that the locations meet all of the PGCB requirements. While this a huge divergence from similar regulations in states such as New Jersey and Nevada where servers have to be located in the state as the operators, it does present lucrative partnership opportunities with operators in other states.
As far as server security is concerned, the operators will have to ensure that the equipment is physically protected from natural or man-made disasters. In addition to this, personnel access to the servers needs to be monitored through access logs to various parts of the system. Recovery plans also have to be put in place to ensure that no inconvenience arises in the event of any sort of issue. In general, these new regulations will serve to keep the IT and security staff of the licensees on toes so as to “ensure the integrity and safety of interactive gaming operations in the Commonwealth.”
