New Jersey, specifically in Atlantic City, quickly followed Nevada and Delaware as the third state to offer online gambling in the US since the Department of Justice decided to allow each individual state to regulate and license its own Internet gambling experience. And with the online gambling entities in those states still in its infancy, it has taken time for testing labs to approve software and hardware, for legislators to okay banking methods, for websites to be built and the final product to hit the virtual world. In New Jersey the particular legislation which legalized online gambling uses the existing 12 physical casinos in that state to offer the Internet version of Atlantic City casino gambling as well. And on November 26, after a trial and testing period of five days, New Jersey adult residents and visitors will be able to wager real money online through those Atlantic City casinos.
The Garden State’s Gaming Enforcement Division revealed to the Associated Press on Friday, October 4 that Atlantic City’s virtual casinos would be accessible beginning on November 21 for specially invited guests only, in what the state is calling a “soft play” period. Gaming Enforcement representatives also stated that if the initial trial period encounters no significant hiccups, full Internet gambling access would be rolled out across the state of New Jersey at 9 AM EDT on November 26. One of the provisions stipulated by the DOJ before it would allow individual states to deliver online gambling regards the proximity of potential gamblers. A player must be physically located inside New Jersey’s boundaries to enjoy this groundbreaking Atlantic City gambling experience, and both GPS and URL tracking technologies will be used to verify player location.
Trump Entertainment Resorts owns and operates two casino hotelss in Atlantic City, and CEO Robert Griffin recently reported in a restrained understatement that, “I think this is going to be a significant revenue stream.” With Atlantic City gambling online as well as the traditional physical presence both operated and controlled by AC casino properties, New Jersey hopes to recapture much of the market share which has moved to Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and other nearby physical gambling locations. Griffin predicted that New Jersey online gambling has the “potential to make up 20 percent of our revenue,” which would be a significant and much-needed boost for not only casino owners and operators, but also job seekers in New Jersey, as well as much-depleted state coffers.
Griffin said that he is still unaware of just how the state regulators are choosing which guests will be able to participate in the initial online casino testing phase. He did however say that regulators have promised to test the waters with a significant number of players to ensure that at peak hours the system is capable of responding quickly and reliably. Out of the twelve land-based casinos in Atlantic City, nine are already gambling on casino wagering online to improve their revenue, with a tenth currently seeking an Internet gambling partner to run its business online. All nine of the current Atlantic City casinos which will be offering online gambling have wisely partnered up with a firm already experienced at delivering online casino style gambling in the past in other parts of the world besides the US.
There are four well-known physical casinos which are owned by Caesars Entertainment in Atlantic City, and Caesars has partnered up with 888 Holdings to deliver its online gambling experience. 888 is one of the most well-known and experienced online gambling providers in the world, and will deliver this new virtual product to all four Caesars casinos in the state. Gamesys Limited will handle the online casino operation for the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, and officially regulations governing online gambling activities in New Jersey will take affect on October 21. The Golden Nugget Atlantic City has branded its own style of Internet gambling using Bally Technologies, and Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal Casino Resort chose Ultimate Gaming, who already launched Internet gambling in Nevada earlier this year.