Remote wagering test planned from Laughlin casino

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 | 10:53 a.m.

A small New York firm announced Tuesday it signed a deal to test a remote wagering system at the Pioneer Casino in Laughlin.

Kenilworth Systems Corp. plans to broadcast live play via satellite from a roulette table at the Pioneer, owned by Archon Corp. of Las Vegas. The broadcast would be for demonstration purposes only, and remote wagers would not be taken on the test broadcast. The test will need the approval of the Nevada Gaming Control Board to proceed.

The control board had expressed concerns in the past about broadcasting the signal over state lines because of the unclear legal situation involving federal law, said Jeff Silver, attorney for Kenilworth. To accommodate those concerns, the 30-day test will be simulcast only within Nevada.

Including the time needed for regulatory approval and technical set-up, "I would say we're maybe 60 days away from talking about doing this," Silver said. "They just want to test the concept, to see if it would be workable."

Kenilworth hopes to eventually offer remote wagering on table game broadcasts through the use of video lottery terminals, operated under the auspices of state lotteries. The broadcast would be conducted through a satellite simulcast, rather than the Internet. The casinos providing the live broadcast would receive a portion of net win from the games.

"We're not competing with Internet gambling," said Herbert Lindo, Kenilworth's president.

The test will cost an estimated $5 million, and Kenilworth had no working capital as of last September. However, "as soon as we get approval (from the control board), we'll have the funds," Lindo said.

Archon officials declined comment.

The concept is similar to that proposed by Station Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas and Las Vegas-based i2 Corp. Through a subsidiary, Station plans to offer a system that would broadcast live table games for remote wagering. Initially the system would be used only within a single property, but Station has considered using the system for an Internet casino as well.

i2, meanwhile, claims a patent on any remote live wagering that uses electronic transactions to pay off bets.

"Any method of remote wagering that has live games, remote players and electronic pay would violate our patent," said i2 President Chris Almida. "We're monitoring them very closely."

But Lindo said he believes Kenilworth is on solid legal ground.

"The patents we have filed are not in violation of any existing patents," Lindo said.