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 New Jersey has become the first state to seriously explore the idea of making online gambling readily available to its citzens. State Senate Bill S3167 (found here), which would permit Atlantic City casinos to extend operations to the online market and provide services to all of New Jersey's legally applicable citizens, is up for vote this week.
To many of the major casinos in Atlantic City this could be just the boost they are looking for. "There are probably 500,000 online poker players in New Jersey alone. And we're missing out on around $100 million in revenue," said Senator Lesniak. While there is definitely plenty of room for growth out there, it won't come cheap. The bill would impose an annual 20% tax on online gambling gross revenues, an alternative investment tax to help the struggling horse racing industry and charge a number of highly expensive licensing fees which would be subject to annual renewals. Despite this, casinos are still optomistic about the idea. "New Jersey is recognised as having the toughest gaming regulators in the US, but as a leading gaming state with a long track record of doing things the right way, internet gambling will have a great home here," said Joe Brennan, Chairman for industry group iMEGA.
To regulate the state's swing into the online market, the Casino Control Commission would be given the authorization to establish a Division of Internet Wagering. This division would be responsible for the administration of wagering done by the internet casino licensees and would be tasked with recommending regulations concerning the new industry to the Commission itself.
If the bill is passed into law, citizens will be allowed to play anywhere in the state of New Jersey (outside of restricted areas) as if they were legally in Atlantic City itself. In order to play citizens would first need to establish an account through the state providing proof of age and residency. In an interesting turn of events, all casino and state employees will be barred from this process and would not be eligible for online gambling.
In order to assist those with a gambling problem the online casinos would also be required to provide players with a service that would allow them to put controls on their wagering activity. This would include a temporary lock on the account when a certain amount of money is lost in a period of time, a set limit on the maximum amount of money that can be wagered in a single bet and in extreme cases a complete temporary suspension of the account for any number of days or hours. As part of this agreement the casino would also agree not to send players who are suffering with a gambling problem any advertising during a time for which they have requested their accounts to be suspended.
As always heavy fees and possible jail time would accompany any actions that involve the tampering of software.
If the bill is passed into law it could help lead the way for similar states to follow suit. In recent years many states have relaxed laws or legalized gambling in an attempt to earn money for the state budget. With more and more states opening themselves up for gambling there appears to be a growing competition for the market. This could be the first step towards a legal nationalized system.
For a complete guide to online casino games, online poker, online bingo and online sports betting, click here.
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