One of the United States’ foremost champions of online gambling experienced a health scare early last week, but fortunately, to this point it is an “all’s well that ends well” story.

New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union, pictured) suffered a minor stroke while playing golf last Tuesday. He described his symptoms to the website NJ.com: “After I got off the golf course, I was driving. I was having a hard time, veering into the other lane.”

It just so happened that Lesniak’s golf buddy that day was a neurologist, so his friend checked him out when they got home. There did not seem to be anything to be concerned about. Lesniak’s condition worsened throughout the night, however, as he had trouble maintaining his balance, bumping into walls in his house.

Lesniak went to Trinitas Hospital the next day, where it was found that he had suffered a stroke. While it was considered minor (he is fine now and resting at home), anything involving blood clots in the brain can be quite scary. He was prescribed the drug Plavix, which helps prevent blood clots.

“All my arteries are clear,” he told NJ.com. “Something just got loose and went up to my brain in the balance area. I was in the hospital one day. Every single test was all clear. I’ve just got to slow down my hard charging self a little bit.”

Lesniak, along with Sen. James Whelan (D-Atlantic), is the sponsor of Senate Bill 1565, a bill that “authorizes internet wagering at Atlantic City casinos to enable New Jersey residents to place wagers on casino games via the internet.” The bill passed through the state Senate’s State Government, Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Preservation Committee at the beginning of April.

The bill would require all servers and other equipment used to offer online gambling to be located in a secure facility in Atlantic City either on a brick-and-mortar casino’s property or in a location specifically designed for the purpose of online gambling. All types of casino games would be allowed, although it would still be restricted to people within New Jersey’s borders. Online poker would be included.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a similar bill last year, but changed his tune this January, shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice pronounced that the Wire Act of 1961 applied only to online sports betting.

In a statement at the time, Christie (pictured) said, “Folks should know I favor it. I want to do it. I vetoed the last bill because I felt that it would open up the opportunity for there to be internet gambling houses all over the State of New Jersey. I don’t think that’s what anybody wants. But, I think being able to have this be an Atlantic City-centric thing is something that makes sense to me. And given the Justice Department’s go-ahead for people to be able to do it, I think we should go ahead and move on it. But, we have to do it in a responsible way and it should be Atlantic City-centric.”

Having passed through the Senate committee and with the backing of the Governor, it looked like SB 1565 was on its way to becoming law, but nothing has happened beyond that. In May, Lesniak was disappointed to announce that the bill would not be voted on until the fall, blaming Christie’s political ambitions for the delay.

Lesniak told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Christie, who at the time was a potential running-mate for Mitt Romney in November’s Presidential election, did not want to get on the bad side of those who could boost him up the political ladder, namely major players in the brick-and-mortar casino industry and the National Football League, an organization which in the past has been a major opponent of online gambling.