Nevada Regulators Back Striking the National Council on Problem Gambling From Casino Rules

The Nevada Gaming Control Board voted on Wednesday, October 7 to recommend taking the National Council on Problem Gambling out of the rule that tells Nevada casinos which helpline to post. Chairman Mike Dreitzer tied the move to the $2 million the national nonprofit accepted from prediction market Kalshi in May.

The vote was 3-0, and it is a recommendation, not a rule change. Board staff told the meeting that “no specific regulatory language is being considered” at this stage. The Nevada Gaming Commission takes up the same list at its October 22 meeting.

A 1998 Rule Names the National Body

Regulation 5.170(2) makes every licensee post or provide written materials about problem gambling near gaming areas, cages and cash machines. Those materials have to carry “the toll-free telephone number of the National Council on Problem Gambling or a similar entity approved by the Board Chair.” The rule was adopted in November 1998 and took effect on January 1, 1999.

The board’s Tax and License Division asked for the change. Its written recommendation says a Nevada reference would send people to “Nevada-specific information and referral resources.” The division’s chief told the board: “We are simply looking to change the organization to our local organization and that is the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling.”

The Nevada Council is already written into the same regulation. Staff training programs that it runs or certifies “are presumed to provide adequate training” under the next subsection. The swap was one of 19 provisions the board reviewed that afternoon.

Dreitzer Wants It Stricken

Mike Dreitzer, the board’s chairman, went further than his staff. On the board’s webcast he said it was “perfectly appropriate to remove the reference,” and added that it “should very well be stricken from our regulation set.”

Board member George Assad asked if the national council had linked up with Kalshi and prediction markets. Dreitzer answered that it had “accepted a $2 million donation” from the company. “That’s a factual statement,” he said.

Chandeni Sendall, the third member, said she agreed with the proposed changes. When Dreitzer asked if anyone in the audience wanted to speak, nobody came forward.

Nevada Was Already Fighting Kalshi in Court

The timing explains the temperature. The National Council announced Kalshi’s “$2 million, two-year investment” on May 18. On that same day, according to the board, a Nevada state court entered a preliminary injunction barring Kalshi from offering sports, election and entertainment contracts in the state.

The board later accused Kalshi of violating that order. In July the company agreed to geofence Nevada by August 12 or pay $120,000 per day.

The National Council created a new “Financial Services & Trading Subcategory” for Kalshi and made it a Platinum-level member. Its announcement pointed to Kalshi’s own safeguards, such as trading breaks, self-limits and self-exclusion, and said the council “maintains a neutral position on the legality” of specific products.

Regulators Keep Walking Out

Nevada’s board isn’t the first regulator to object. The Michigan Gaming Control Board withdrew its membership in a July 1 letter from executive director Henry Williams, who wrote that the partnership “directly undermines state enforcement actions.” Michigan also canceled its paid sponsorship of the council’s annual conference.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission asked to withdraw in a letter dated June 26. Interim executive director Andromeda Morrison wrote that the council’s “actions are not neutral.”

Fortune reported on October 9 that Washington’s Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling ended a 35-year affiliation in September, and that the Nevada Council cut ties in August. The National Council announced executive director Heather Maurer’s resignation on September 26. She stays in the job through October 16.

The National Council’s Answer

Board president Derek Longmeier set out the council’s position on September 22. He called prediction markets “functionally gambling” and said the council is neutral on whether they should be legal. “Donor engagement does not mean endorsement,” he said.

Two Helplines, One Sign

The phone number is the practical question for anyone looking for problem gambling help on a casino floor. The National Council’s helpline is now 1-800-MY-RESET. The Nevada Council’s website lists 1-800-GAMBLER as its 24-hour line, and so does the Gaming Control Board’s own problem gambling page.

That older number belongs to the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. Its lawyers say the group licensed the line to the National Council in June 2022, and that a New Jersey court ordered the national body to stop using it in September 2025.

Nothing changes in casinos yet. The board and the Commission plan a joint report to the governor’s office under Executive Order 2026-003, which sets a December 31 deadline, and the governor’s office says regulatory action starts in 2027. Until the wording is rewritten, Regulation 5.170 still names the National Council.