18 States Could Legalize Internet Gambling by 2018
A Bloomberg articlepublished on Tuesday talked about the much-hyped launch of full internet gambling in New Jersey. Six New Jersey casinos were permitted to offer online gambling to the general public without any player caps, which has led to a firestorm of discussion on PocketFives’ New Jersey poker community page. Apparently, if all goes to plan in New Jersey, nearly half of the U.S. could see online gambling in the five years.
Borgata, Tropicana, Trump Plaza, Trump Taj Mahal, Bally’s, and Caesars were all given the green light on Monday and, according to Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO and internet gambling industry veteran Mitch Garber, expect to see “a lot of integration, a lot of tie-ins to land properties.”
Atlantic City’s gambling industry has been floundering as of late due in part to heat from surrounding states like Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware, which have all expanded land-based gaming in recent years. Delaware was the second state in the U.S. to offer online gaming; its games launched last month.
According to Bloomberg and a separate Associated Press report, more than 10,000 New Jersey players registered for the state’s legal online sites in the first three days of the soft launch.
There are a few kinks to be worked out, however. Bloomberg noted, for example, that despite the industry being completely above board, “Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., and American Express Co. are refusing to allow their credit cards to be used for online gambling.” A variety of verification issues have also occurred, prohibiting players, even those who are far from the state’s borders, from being geo-located correctly.
On his take on online versus live poker, Dennis Dlorican Lopez (pictured) told Bloomberg, “I would definitely play online more, but I would still go to the casinos. I like the feel of playing in a live atmosphere, talking to people.”
New Jersey has been, and will continue to be, watched closely. If all goes as planned, we could see nearly 40% of the United States roll out online gambling in the foreseeable future. Spectrum Gaming Capital President Robert Heller told Bloomberg that as many as 18 states may legalize internet gambling by 2018 “depending on how New Jersey fares.” He summarized, “New Jersey is important. It’s a big bet.” Bloomberg added that in Europe, internet gambling is a $15 billion business.
On PocketFives’ New Jersey pokercommunity page, players were bantering about a variety of topics, including a preliminary slate of tournaments. As Lopez posted, “You have WSOP, which offers a nightly $10K rebuy, $10K and $25K Sunday Majors, and the $250K freeroll and New Jersey Online Championships. You have Party, which offers the Next Poker Million promotion, a WPT Borgata Winter Open seat promotion, and seven Sunday Majors ranging from $2,5000 to $50K in guaranteed prize pools.”
Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest from New Jersey and beyond.
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