An article from the Associated Presson Thursday revealed that New Jersey is eyeing players from other states and countries. In what could be a landmark moment, State Senators Raymond Lesniak (pictured) and Jim Whelan have introduced legislation that allows New Jersey “to enter into reciprocal agreements with other states or countries where internet gambling is legal. That would allow people in those places to access the 15 gambling websites run by the Atlantic City casinos.”

“Senators Lesniak and Whelan are clearly legislative visionaries when it comes to internet gaming,” Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas told PocketFives in an exclusive statement. “This is the logical extension of what New Jersey has already built. By its very nature, internet poker and internet gaming are global activities. Uniting multiple jurisdictions is the smart thing to do for players, gaming companies, and governments.”

Pappas justified his reasoning by saying, “Players want larger player pools, gaming companies want to expand their brands and their opportunity for profits, and governments want to increase their tax revenues. This makes so much sense and we hope New Jersey takes this next and necessary step.”

New Jersey’s legal and regulated internet gambling industry launched late last year and includes sites like Borgata Pokerand WSOP.com. Over 150,000 player accounts have been created so far. The Garden State was the third to legalize internet gambling, joining Nevada and neighboring Delaware.

Lesniak told the Associated Press, “This opens up the worldwide market to us, the $30 billion Big Kahuna.” As it stands now, only players physically located in New Jersey can play online, although many in the state have encountered geo-location issues that have prevented them from logging on. Moreover, players have reported pushback when depositing with major credit cards despite the industry’s explicit legality. You can read more about the nascent market by checking out PocketFives’ New Jersey poker community.

Recently, it was announced that New Jersey’s online sites raked in $8.3 million in revenue in 2013. According to the Associated Press, “Many casino executives and industry analysts expect that figure to grow this year as more players join, more advertising takes place, and mobile applications are expanded.”

The next entrant into the regulated New Jersey market is Virgin Casino, which launched on Friday and partnered with Gamesys. According to CBS News, “It’s offering a much-talked about community jackpot, which rewards all players with a bit of money every time someone wins a jackpot.” Virgin Casino is also offering a $50 refill bonus.

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