On Thursday, New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak (pictured), who helped bring intrastate internet gambling to the Garden State starting today, announced legislation that would authorize New Jersey to issue non-U.S. internet gambling licenses. However, U.S. players would not be permitted to play on a site licensed for non-U.S. play. Thus, the player pools would not be merged. Lesniak told callers during a press conference, “I have been approached by other internet gaming companies saying they’d love to set up shop in New Jersey.”

Lesniak added that New Jersey will permit sports betting, just not for any U.S.-facing sites: “This will show how ridiculous the Federal ban on sports betting is because we will be able to take sports bets from anyone across the globe except for anyone in the U.S.” New Jersey is in the midst of trying to change the law to allow brick and mortar sports betting to exist.

Lesniak also called for a Ryder Cup of Poker: “What I’m envisioning specifically for the health of Atlantic City – I can see a Ryder Cup of Poker where our international licensees will have a poker competition for outside of the U.S. Our New Jersey licensees will have a competition for New Jersey folks. The best [in each group] will come to Atlantic City for a Ryder Cup competition.” The Ryder Cup has been a staple of golf since the 1920s.

According to Lesniak’s camp, the proposal to license non-U.S. online gaming sites could generate up to $8 billion in gaming revenue along with up to 16,000 jobs, although a variety of numbers were rattled off during the call.

Now, let’s address the liquidity problem. According to Lesniak and company, liquidity issues in New Jersey would need to be solved via interstate compacts. “[Pooling New Jersey and non-U.S. players] would be forbidden by law because the New Jersey licenses could only include people in New Jersey… That liquidity issue is going to have to be solved by compacts within states. That’s something that we can keep fighting in Washington, D.C. to overcome.”

Lesniak revealed that without intrastate internet gambling launching in New Jersey today, two Atlantic City casinos would close and, consequently, 5,000 to 10,000 people would be out of work. Internet gambling, he said, is “not the savior for Atlantic City. We still have a lot to do. Sports betting would be the big boost to the economy.”

Why would online gaming companies choose New Jersey over established regulatory agencies in Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Canada, and elsewhere? “We have a very reliable regulatory system that will give a stamp of approval for the rest of the world on these sites,” Lesniak said. “Ultimately, a lot of these companies believe the U.S. market will open up and they’ll have an advantage by being located here. Many of these companies would love to have this license.”

Some have argued that it’s too early in the process for New Jersey to venture into global internet gambling licenses, but Lesniak countered, “I have a lot of confidence in our regulators and so does the industry. They’ve done a lot of work over the past year. They were researching internet gambling while my regulation was going through the process. They’re not going to be doing anything differently than what they’re doing now licensing companies in New Jersey.”

One other topic Lesniak touched on was the outlook for PokerStars, which has yet to be licensed to provide internet gambling in New Jersey. Although he wouldn’t comment on whether PokerStars’ intrastate license would go through, Lesniak told callers, “My legislation included eligibility for PokerStars as long as they met the requirements of our Division of Gaming Enforcement. There were people who wanted to put in obstacles for PokerStars doing business in New Jersey. I didn’t want those in, so I kept them out.”

Thursday’s soft launch has been the talk of the town in PocketFives’ New Jersey poker community. “I expect nothing but the best results for this trial run,” Lesniak concluded.

Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest on New Jersey’s internet gambling launch.

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.