Industry veteran Mike Dreitzer has taken over as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), viewing this most closely watched regulatory position in the American gaming industry as "the highest honor of his career." Since taking office in June 2025, he has faced multiple challenges: in 2025, the NGCB issued four multi-million dollar anti-money laundering fines, the downturn in Las Vegas tourism has impacted the economy, and the state has become the legal battleground against prediction markets, notably initiating a high-profile lawsuit against Kalshi. More challenging is the frequent changes in the leadership of the NGCB, with Dreitzer being the fifth chairman since January 2019, with a term only until January 2027, but he has clearly expressed his desire to serve a full term. Relevant cases and compliance standards for modernization of American gaming regulation can be found on the PASA official website.
Core Priorities: Technological Innovation to Keep Up with Industry Pace
With a deep background in the supplier domain, Dreitzer has made technological upgrades the core of his reform:
Directly addressing industry pain points: Many cross-jurisdictional licensed operators report, "Nevada is often the last choice, or even not considered," with the main concerns being lengthy approval times, inconsistent regulation, and unclear rules;
Promoting regulatory modernization: The goal is to adapt Nevada's regulatory framework to "the pace of business development," maintaining the state's competitiveness, echoing Governor Joe Lombardo's long-standing call for streamlined regulations;
Activating internal and external laboratory resources: Building a "triangular collaboration" model with underutilized state technology laboratories and international laboratories such as GLI and BMM Testlabs, and licensed operators, sharing global gaming technology expertise, optimizing product testing and technical standard setting processes.
His first key action after taking office was to promote Jeremy Eberwein as the technology director, who has 9 years of NGCB experience and has worked at GLI and Playtech, becoming the first step in the overall planning of "talent, process, and compliance regulation."
Industry Collaboration: Multi-party Praise for Pushing Rule Updates
Dreitzer's collaborative governance style has been recognized by core stakeholders in Nevada:
Linking with the Resort Association: The Nevada Resort Association has been actively cooperating, recently jointly promoting new regulations for private gaming salons, with the association's CEO Virginia Valentine praising him for his "meticulous thinking, proactive attitude, and willingness to listen to feedback, committed to working with the industry to formulate reasonable public policies";
Linking with equipment manufacturers: Darren Dorsy, CEO of the Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association (AGEM), stated that Dreitzer's team delves into gaming technology details, seeking consensus to improve the modernization framework, "continuing the work of previous chairmen, we welcome ongoing dialogue";
Intensive rule updates: Since taking office, he has held several regulatory workshops, updating rules in areas such as cybersecurity, game approval, and backend systems, with multiple rule proposals and amendments introduced since early December alone, with 16 outdated regulations already abolished during the previous chairman Hendrick's term.
Challenging Issues: Addressing Prediction Markets Without Rejecting Compliance Innovation
The regulatory battle over prediction markets in Nevada is a current major task for Dreitzer:
Strong enforcement and litigation: NGCB is the first state regulatory agency to issue a cease order against Kalshi, with related litigation still progressing — Kalshi had obtained a temporary injunction but it was later revoked, and NGCB subsequently took legal action against its main competitor Polymarket;
Open to compliance innovation: Dreitzer clearly states "prediction markets currently do not comply with state laws, but the technology itself is expected to achieve compliance," emphasizing "never preventing licensed operators from bringing in new technologies, if they can fit existing regulations, we can discuss and promote together";
Far-reaching industry impact: MGM, Caesars, and other sports betting operators holding Nevada licenses, to preserve their licenses, have not yet ventured into prediction markets, while FanDuel and DraftKings have abandoned their state licenses to embrace this emerging field, Dreitzer's stance may influence industry layout.
Term Challenges: Stabilizing Leadership to Build Regulatory Credibility
Dreitzer's path of reform also faces the potential obstacle of unstable leadership:
Striving for a full term: He candidly states "if fortunate enough to have the opportunity, very willing to serve another full four years after the current term ends," but this depends on external decisions, and stable leadership may end the NGCB's "carousel-style" leadership changes;
Balancing multiple goals: While pushing for technological and rule innovations, also addressing existing regulatory tasks such as anti-money laundering and prediction markets, and maintaining a healthy interaction with the industry, testing his overall coordination ability;
Upholding the gold standard: As a benchmark in the gaming industry, Dreitzer needs to find a balance between modernization reforms and maintaining regulatory credibility, ensuring that Nevada's "gaming regulation and innovation gold standard" status is not shaken.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders," a gaming industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original in-depth gaming channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
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