Home / Poker News November 2012 / A Major Step – First Tribal Online Casino Launched
A Major Step – First Tribal Online Casino Launched
Posted by: Randy Williams - Wed, 2012-11-07 10:03
While the attention of the general public was focused on the outcome of the US election and that of the
online poker community on the re-launch of Full Tilt Poker’s real money tables, another, seemingly insignificant yet potentially extremely important event unfolded: the launching of the first tribal online casino. Northern Bear Casino has been launched at 9 PM EST, on November 6, breaking new ground for tribal gambling and possibly making a first foray into an environment which may see many other similar operations follow.
The Northern Bear is hosted by the GEObet Tribal Gaming Network, and it will function under the provisions of the Wapi-Maskwa iGaming Act.
Northern Bear’s CEO, Bernard Shepherd, said that he felt it was his dusty to become an online gambling owner/operator after 20 years of successful First Nations casino gambling in Saskatchewan. He said he felt the First Nations needed to move in and to grab land before the imminent online gambling and online poker rush, some are quite certain will be brought about by US legalization and regulation.
Exactly what the implications of the Northern Bear launch are for the
online poker industry is currently unclear, what is quite clear though is that it will probably generate a rush towards online gambling as other tribal interests will attempt to secure a market-share as well. This way, a shared player-base may be created, and that would provide a great model for the various intra-state online poker operations currently struggling for licensing in the US.
Besides various online casino games and sports betting, Northern Bear offers online poker too. Their poker software works with PCs and Macs too, and it features an outstanding game selection: there’s Holdem, Omaha, Stud, Razz, Badugi and even 5-Card Draw.
