Nevada gambling regulators on Thursday reviewed proposed rules for hand-held, wireless gambling devices that would let gamblers roam the casino while placing their bets.

The Nevada Gaming Commission is writing the regulations after the Legislature enacted a law permitting the devices last spring.

Under the new law, the games can be used only in public areas of casinos that have 100 or more slot machines and offer at least one other game. The law bars the devices from hotel rooms, parking lots and garages, and other private areas.

Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard said the regulations being considered would allow gamblers to play the portable games everywhere gambling is already permitted. Casinos wanting to allow the devices off the casino floor -- in convention space, for example -- would need special permission.

"Mobile gaming devices are seen to be fairly well-defined, and we've established that the system can meet the requirements that they be made safe and secure, kept out of the hands of minors and used in designated areas," he said.

The wireless devices would be linked to a main casino server that verifies the gambler is the person who checked out one of the devices at a casino. Proponents say the devices can be set to stop working in nonauthorized areas, and players can establish limits in advance by depositing money on account.

Proponents say the remote gambling devices will help Nevada casinos compete with Indian casinos, Internet betting and resorts elsewhere in the country and around the world.

Under the regulations under review, casinos would pay taxes based on the numbers of devices they offer, not on how often they're used.

The regulations will be discussed Feb. 23 at the commission's meeting in Carson City and could be approved at the March 23 meeting in Las Vegas, Bernhard said.

Once the rules are in place, regulators can start reviewing applications. Companies expressing interest have included Cantor G&W (Nevada) LP, an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald LP, the New York-based financial services company that pressed for the new law. The company says an adaptation of its interactive bond-trading technology will work for casino gambling.

Others interested include Louisiana-based Diamond I, which has developed its own device; Reno-based International Game Technology; and FortuNet, a Las Vegas-based gambling device manufacturer.

Joe Asher, managing director of Cantor G&W, told the commission his company supports the rules under review.

The commission also debated proposed regulations based on a new law that allows casino nightclubs that charge an entrance fee to have slot machines. The commission will take up the issue again in February.