During the Sunday Broncos vs Raiders NFL game, Newark resident Anthony Prince placed a $110 in-play wager on the Broncos winning one minute before the end of the game at the Meadowlands on 750-1 odds. After the game concluded with the Broncos on top, Prince went to the FanDuel ticket window to retrieve his winnings to which the window clerk refused to honor. The clerk stated his ticket winning of over $82,000 was the cause of an erroneous flaw in the system’s odds calculation and stated his odds should have been 1-6 where his winning would only total $18.35.

Prince disputed his right to the winnings and FanDuel claimed no responsibility to payout such an amount caused by a system glitch. The clerk stated they could not payout the ticket based on FanDuel’s House Rules which accounts for obvious errors and malfunctions and claims no obligation to pay in these cases. FanDuel then continued by offering prince $500 and skybox seat tickets to future New York Giants games, stating he ought to take the offer because they are not obligated to provide Prince with anything else.

A spokesperson for FanDuel during this incident, Kevin Hennessy, says a number of other bettors also placed wagers using the glitch’s odds over an 18-second interval but had their winnings removed as per policy. FanDuel and its spokesmen have declined to reveal how many individual bettors placed wagers using the incorrect odds. However, the company did reveal the other bettors also affected by the glitch wagered on the FanDuel sportsbook app.

Prince, part of the affected party stated to local news outlets he would rather use a corner bookie than FanDuel because at least the bookie would pay. State-regulated sportsbooks are in place to provide the public with a sense of peace and security, offering protection against strong-arm tactics, being hustled by illegal bookies, and wrongful business practices. Director of the New Jersey Gaming Enforcement David Rebuck announced an investigation into the matters concerning FanDuel’s glitch stating they would “look into how it occurred, given internal control exist to prevent such an error”.

Later that week on Thursday, FanDuel released a statement reversing their stance on the glitch issue. The company said they would honor Prince’s ticket winnings of $82,000 and payout the other bettors affected by the system malfunction. In the same tone, FanDuel apologized for the error and promised to give away another $82,000 by depositing $1,000 into 82 random customer accounts over the coming weekend.

FanDuel’s sportsbook went live in new jersey July 14^th at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford. One month after FanDuel began offering sports wagering the company made $3 million. Clearly, payment was not an issue.

New Jersey led the way in the fight against the PASPA act, taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court. After losing the case in the smaller court systems, it seemed unlikely that NJ would prevail but then governor Chris Christie was relentless and appealed the case to the Supreme Court. It came as a surprise when the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) announced that they would review the case. In May of 2018 the Supreme Court decision was released to the public. The SCOTUS ruled that the PASPA act was unconstitutional in the way that it allowed some states to have sports betting while basically blackballing the other states.

In a time where state income is at the top of every state tax assessors list, many states are embracing legal domestic sportsbooks and looking to make some revenue off of the industry. Atlantic City is in the same boat and looking to revamp their casinos by adding sports betting to their casinos. Atlantic city has had its shares of ups and downs over the last couple of decades and now that NJ has won the case against the USA sports leagues, the state has every intention of creating new revenue for their beachfront gambling town.

More than 20 states have already drafted laws to allow sports betting in their state. Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Illinois, and many more have started the process to legalize sports betting. Several states are well on their way to having operational sports betting in their state by the end of 2018. Since New Jersey won the case, many people thought they would be the first state outside the exempted states to start offering legalized sports betting but that might not be the case. Delaware who was prevented from offering single-game sports bets started their system June 5^th, 2018. Other states have already passed laws and are waiting to get their systems in place before sports betting is up and running.

Atlantic City is set to start legalized sports betting June 14^th, 2018 but not all casinos will have their systems up by that time. The New Jersey racetrack at Mammoth Park is set to start accepting bets and will likely accept the first legal sports bet in New Jersey. Until now, residents were able to legally place bets through licensed offshore sportsbooks accepting Atlantic City bettors. Lawmakers are excited about the business and potential revenue that sports betting could bring to New Jersey. They fought hard to get to this point and now intend to build up their community with the additional revenue sports betting could produce.

The American sporting leagues are still pushing for federal regulation and integrity fees (except NFL), as they claim they need the fee to protect the integrity of the games. It is not likely that we will see any federal regulation of the sports betting industry, but it is still a possibility. The NFL has taken a different stance and instead of asking for integrity fees they are looking at retaining licensing fees for use of their names and association.

As of now, there are 7 open casinos in Atlantic City with another casino in the process of opening. Below you will find their plans for legalized sports betting that will begin in New Jersey on June 14^th, 2018.

Borgata Hotel and Casio – Will begin accepting sports bets immediately, plans on opening a new venue in the casino to accept sports bets.

Ocean Resort – Will begin taking bets on sports June 28^th. Planning a 7,500 ft sportsbook dead center in the casino.

Resorts Casino – Paired with Draft Kings, internet gaming room will be converted into sports betting center.

Golden Nugget – Plans to have sports betting by the start of NFL season. Won’t be allowed to offer NBA betting since the owner owns an NBA team.

Hard Rock – Will likely have limited sports betting due to a naming rights deal with the Miami Dolphins. The casino is still a few months away from opening its doors.

Tropicana – Has yet to make any statements concerning sports betting.

Bally’s – Has not made a statement concerning sports betting.

Frank Sinatra’s Beef

Over the years there have been many stories associated with Atlantic City casinos, some good, some bad but the lessons learned and impacts the city has left on society will last forever. One of the first unforgettable stories to come from Atlantic City was the Frank Sinatra debacle. Sinatra was a singer and actor who was known as the casino headliner in prominent circles. One night after his performance at the Atlantic City Golden Nugget, Sinatra was playing Blackjack where he insisted that the dealer dealt from his hand instead of from a card shoe. He threatened to terminate his casino contract if the dealer didn’t oblige. The dealer did oblige but was later suspended for his actions and the casino was also fined $25k. The following year Sinatra canceled his Atlantic City performance but would eventually make his way back to the city by 1985.

Brian Molony Blows $10m

In 1985 the Brian Molony scandal came to life and was quickly recognized as one of the worst financial scandals of the legal casino era. Brian Molony was a bank employee that embezzled $10m and lost it all at Atlantic City casinos. The Caesars Boardwalk Regency Hotel and Casino never questioned the source of Molony’s cash and was ordered to shut down for 24 hours when the scandal was finally exposed. Molony was convicted and sentenced to 6 years in jail, he was released after 2.

The Money A Flowing And A Going

The Mid-2000’s was a great time for Atlantic City casinos in terms of revenue. By 2005, gross gaming revenues topped $5 billion. It looked as if the sky was the limit as revenues had continued to gain over the past few years. More casinos were interested in moving into Atlantic City and by 2007 Pinnacle Entertainment moved into the city with the purchase of the Sands casino. It was the first real attempt at a multi-billion-dollar beach casino. However, by that time neighboring states had begun to allow casino gambling and started pulling at the Atlantic City market. Eventually, 5 of the 12 Atlantic City casinos would close their doors and Pinnacle backed out of their deal leaving a big empty lot in the center of town.

The Trump Era

During Atlantic Cities glory days Donald Trump-owned 3 Atlantic City casinos. Today all of them have transferred ownership or closed for good. While Trump was a primary investor in Atlantic City he had some hard times there. In the beginning, Trump was responsible for bringing the best entertainment to the city. He had an exclusive contract with the heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson, making Atlantic City the world’s boxing capital for several years.

His troubles really started in the late 80’s when a few of his deals didn’t pan out the way he would have liked. He purchased what was known as the world’s most luxurious yacht for $29m and invited a media storm to the vessel upon its arrival in the US. Unfortunately, his plan backfired, the weather didn’t cooperate and the in fear of a lawsuit his team refused to let the media on the ship. The media went into a frenzy when they found out that one big-time tv crew did get invited on the ship. The incident resulted in a lot of bad press for Trump.

Another one of Trump’s mishaps occurred when David Hasselhoff was set to perform at the Trump Castle in Atlantic City in 1994. It was a pay-per-view event that was supposed to relaunch David’s career in the states. When David hit the stage, they realized that no one was watching and turned on the television to discover that there was a bigger event unfolding live on tv. OJ Simpson was leading the police on a chase in his Ford Bronco. This resulted in one of the biggest PPV television events in history.

40 Years In

Today there are 7 casinos still in operation in Atlantic City: Bally’s, Borgata, Caesars, Golden Nugget, Harrah’s, Resorts, and Tropicana. In 2017, Atlantic City gambling revenue set an annual revenue record with $2.6 billion, including online casinos. Many industry professionals believe the increased numbers show the industry is getting stronger. Before 2016, Atlantic City had faced a decade worth of declining revenue, so going into the green in 2016 was a big deal for the gambling city. Atlantic City is currently awaiting a Supreme Court Decision in the New Jersey vs. NCAA case. If the SCOTUS rules in favor of New Jersey it will likely start a legal sports betting trend phenomena across many states that have already drafted legislation to allow sports betting if the PAPSA act is overturned. The PAPSA act is the one thing that stands in Atlantic City’s way of increasing their revenue substantially in 2018.

The Supreme Court’s decision to no longer restrict wagering outside of Nevada will finally allow facilitates in New Jersey the authority and right to offer sports betting services. Even New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy has vocally spoken about stepping in and working closely with legislators to enact a law which would authorize and regulate sports betting in the state very soon. This newly established ruling will not only take New Jersey a step closer to legal sports betting but, as well as, other states.

Previously, single-game wagering had only been legalized in Nevada, funneling domestic sports wagers directly into their gaming industry. However, with PASPA gone New Jersey, specifically Atlantic City, may become the next Nevada. The Garden State may begin offering mobile and online sports betting options depending on the availability of the proper technology and software, but there is no doubt in our minds that they haven’t prepared for this moment. In fact, many NJ casinos and racetracks are rumored to begin sports betting services in the next two weeks where guests that are at least twenty-one may wager.

States have begun to openly accept sports betting as a potential revenue stream much like state-run lotteries. Several casino companies such as Caesars Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, MGM Resorts, Body gaming, and Wynn Resorts have seen their stock shares near double in value since SCOTUS’s ruling on PASPA. However, Congress can at any point establish a national framework for sports betting or ban it once more on a federal level. To continue, Justice Samuel Alito has made it known in the Supreme Court case’s majority opinion that Congress can act if it wishes or leave states to determine their own destiny.

Since the ruling, the American Gaming Association has praised SCOTUS for its decision while other Major Sports Leagues such as the PGA, NCAA, NBA, and MLB have made public statements, in an albeit begrudging manner. Several sports leagues players’ unions have stated that they would want to be involved in the creation and implementation of legal sports betting in some way to mitigate concerns regarding fixing games and point shaving.

While many are rejoicing in the potential future of legally domestic sports gambling offers, it is better to err on the side of caution. For instance, any “state-run” online sportsbooks that pop-up in the coming weeks could be dupes and illegal, as many states outside of NJ are said to have their systems pending in the coming months – potentially years from now. Therefore, to protect yourself from any discrepancies it is better to gamble at registered and licensed offshore sportsbooks until states gain the official go-ahead and get their ducks in a row.

In 2014, 4 Atlantic City casinos closed its doors, the Atlantic club, Showboat, Revel and Trump plaza. The Revel cost approximately $2.4 Billion to build and was a true spectacle located just off the famous New Jersey boardwalk. Some people blamed the closures on the cities lack of tourism options others blamed it on the saturation of casinos in the area. Whatever it was it was a trend that had many casinos worried about their future going into 2015.

Well things are changing for Atlantic city and now it looks like things might be changing for the old Revel Casino too. Since its closure, there have been several deals being made to try to sell the property to investors but only one ever happened. Glen Straub bought the casino in 2014 at a reported $82 million USD with aspirations of opening a resort or a resort casino named TEN. Straub said he intended on keeping Revel, but the state and federal government regulations frustrated his plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars that the casino needed to compete with other high-end casinos in Atlantic City. TEN never opened its doors and now the reports coming from that end of the boardwalk is that the casino has been sold to Colorado developer Bruce Deifik for $200 million USD.

The new casino will be called the Ocean Resort Casino and Deifik says the investment is a dream come true. Deifik is a renowned veteran of the development industry and founder, president and chief of his company Integrated Properties Inc. His company started in 1990 to assist with development and leasing of commercial properties in the Denver and Phoenix metropolitan areas.

The news of the casino opening has some New Jersey residents concerned that the addition of another big casino opening might cause a similar effect to what happened in 2014 when 4 casinos shut down. However, Deifik is not concerned and has big plans for the new casino in New Jersey. Deifik has stated that if New Jersey wins the U.S. Supreme Court case to legalize sports betting then he will open a sportsbook facility in the casino. He also said the casino plans to employ approximately 3,000 people and the casino will feature over 100 table games and over 2,000 slot machines.

Glen Straub sold the property for what seems like an astronomical profit but claims that he incurred huge expenses while keeping it closed. He claims a big portion of his expenses included legal fees he used to fight government regulations that he was opposed to. Straub still owns more than 60 properties in Atlantic City which he plans to use for a boost to an economic movement throughout the city.

It is still unclear what direction the new Ocean City Resort Casino will take or when it will aim to open, but many enthusiasts believe it will open an Atlantic City online casino platform sooner rather than later. On February 26^th, 2013, governor Chris Christie signed into law a piece of legislation that allowed for casinos to offer online gambling services to New Jersey residents and by December of the same year over 100,000 online casino accounts had been created.

Source:  CNBC

Horse racing has been a part of New Jersey’s past time for as long as living people can remember. It was officially banned in 1897 and resumed in 1942 when thoroughbred racing exploded in popularity across the United States. Monmouth Park is one of several historical race tracks that is centrally located and dates back all the way 1870.

Dennis Drazin is the chairman and CEO of Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport stated that “The casinos should realize that absolutely nothing will happen unless they agree to allow it through an agreement with a track. Nobody is forcing anything on them. This is really a win win for the racing industry and the casino industry.” Drazin wants the race tracks to be exempt from state laws that ban real-money gambling and internet cafes.

Supporters believe that track patrons would be betting on online casino events in between races and that the tracks should be compensated for bets placed, the exact compensation would have to be negotiated. The Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ) has yet to respond.

The CANJ is a New Jersey trade organization and collective voice for Atlantic City casinos. They strive for a thriving casino industry to create economic growth and prosperity for their city residents. Over the past 40 years the Atlantic City casino industry has paid over 4 billion in real estate taxes, over 1 billion in non-casino development projects and employs over 23,000 New Jersey residents among many other things they do for their community.

Historical race tracks like Monmouth, Freehold and Garden State Park have all reported dwindling attendance numbers since the early 1980’s and this new bill is expected to bring some of the excitement back to a struggling thoroughbred horse racing industry in New Jersey.

New Jersey has the largest internet gambling market out of the three states that permit online gambling in the U.S. Philadelphia has recently approved a similar motion, and Delaware already has a system in place of the same nature. New Jersey residents are on pace to win about 250 million in gambling revenue this year from online services alone.

Nothing is scheduled yet with the state Senate, but the committee is considering the measure if an agreement can be met.

Sports betting has 2 different realms—brick-and-mortar and online. New Jersey is currently in the middle of an ongoing legal battle over the former type of betting. The state attempted to pass legislation authorizing sports betting in its licensed gambling establishment, but this was swiftly shut down by the federal government after a lawsuit from the major sports leagues. NJ appealed the decision and lost in the lower circuit courts but has landed an audience with the Supreme Court, despite the acting Solicitor General advising SCTOTUS to not bother with the case. Governor Christie is arguing that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the federal ban on sports wagering in 46 states, is unconstitutional. Interested parties from both sides have been sending in amicus briefs for the court’s consideration in recent months, and oral arguments are expected to begin in early December.

If New Jersey somehow wins this case, which many legal analysts believe may actually happen, PASPA will likely be stricken down. This would allow New Jersey to introduce legal sports betting into its land-based casinos. Online sports betting in New Jersey, at least through state regulated means, would have to wait for another law to be dealt with—the Federal Wire Act.

The Federal Wire Act is the oldest of the sports gambling laws. It was passed in 1961 as a measure to thwart the rise of illegal sports betting conducted by the mafia through wire transmissions. Since then, technology has come a long way and some believe the law’s original language encompasses the entire spectrum of online gambling. The US Department of Justice issued a Formal Opinion in 2011 that strictly said the law applied to online sports betting, not online casinos or poker. This is how New Jersey was able to legalize these gambling forms.

In order for online sports gambling to exist in the state, the Federal Wire Act must be repealed or amended to legalize betting on sports. If PASPA were repealed, it would certainly go a long way towards the goal of total overhaul with the standing gambling laws. New Jersey residents can already enjoy legal online casinos and online poker, and they are close to hosting brick-and-mortar sports betting, but the Federal Wire Act must also be addressed if they want the total online gambling package. A decision on the ongoing court case is expected sometime in early 2018. If New Jersey wins, expect the dominos to begin falling in favor of online sports wagering.

According to PRNewswire.com, in 2013, the industry has collected $682.6 million in revenue, with $119.4 million injected into state coffers, with $3.6 million generated in October.

Image Source: PlayNJ.com

Lead analysts at New Jersey’s official online gambling website, PlayNJ.com, anticipate that the momentum within the online gambling trade will continue to build. PlayNJ.com analysts predict that because of the interstate compact between New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware, the online poker market in all three states will grow. Thanks to Pennsylvania, which recently became the fourth state to regulate and legalize online gambling, the market could double in size by 2018.

Online gambling and casino sites have been legal in the state of New Jersey since Feb. 26, 2013. After going through a five-day long online test in November of that same year, these sites officially launched on Nov. 26, 2013. Atlantic City online casinos are permitted to participate in online gambling in New Jersey.

For those wanting to try their hand at popular New Jersey online casino games such as video poker, slots, poker, blackjack, craps, roulette and other table games, you must be present within state borders, but you are not required to be a resident of the state. Visitors are welcome to play at New Jersey’s regulated online gambling sites. In addition, out-of-state depositing is allowed, but individuals cannot play until they step foot in the state.

As an added note, sports betting is not legal in the state of New Jersey. However, the state continues to push for the freedom to allow legal sports betting in Atlantic City and currently, the case is heading to the U.S. Supreme Court. The best option available in sports betting is wagering at an offshore sports betting site, as there are no NJ state laws in place that expressly prohibit sports betting online.

Source:  PRNewsWire

The Garden State is 1 of 3 states with legal online gambling, the other 2 being Nevada and Delaware. Online casinos in Atlantic City have been the bigger draw of the 2 legal gambling forms, with the casino sector raking in $19.2 million in revenue for the month of August. This was a 3% increase from the previous month. In fact, August was the second-most successful month for the NJ online casino sector, falling just short of the record $19.5 million figure posted in March. These figures do not include licensed offshore online casinos accepting Atlantic City players.

There are several big name online casinos contributing to this revenue stream. Golden Nugget is the most successful, raking in over $5 million in August. This was a decrease from their previous month, but a down month for Golden Nugget is still well ahead of their competitors. It’s overall online casino activity is up, but the fluctuating revenue has led some analysts to believe it may lose its top spot soon. Caesars (which includes 888, Caesars, Harrah’s and WSOP) was once in the bottom spot but has become the second highest grossing online casino option via a meteoric rise. It’s latest revenue figures put it close behind Golden Nugget, and with GN’s revenue jumping around, it appears Caesars may be moving to control more of the market.

Online poker in Atlantic City is a different story. The portion of overall revenue contributed by online poker pales in comparison to the online casino market. For the month of August, online poker pulled in $2.1 million. While this was up from previous months, local government would like to see higher yields. New Jersey has proposed the idea of launching an interstate online poker network between itself, Nevada and Delaware to increase the player pool (thus generating more traffic, revenue, etc.) but nothing has materialized yet. NJ has also reached out to international markets, like the United Kingdom, but as the US online gambling market currently stands, there is not much incentive for anyone to join forces.

Widespread legalization would benefit New Jersey in its quest for higher revenue streams. The month-to-month numbers show that interest is there, and despite the fact that the majority comes through online casinos, residents are still utilizing both online casino and poker destinations. $20 million in revenue is good for any state, and other states may decide to implement NJ’s model if this yield remains consistent. The addition of online sports betting would certainly help, and New Jersey may be able to do that if they win their ongoing case with the US Supreme Court. For now, residents can enjoy both safe and legal online gambling through casinos and poker.

State regulated online gambling may have not started the way that some of the supporters in Atlantic City thought it might, but it’s still providing tax revenue that can’t be denied. When it was first introduced in New Jersey almost 4 years ago the online gambling revenues missed their desired goals and projections used to get the laws passed by upwards of $100 million dollars. Certainly not a good look for the proponents of the laws that were enacted for online gambling in the state. In 2017, however, those numbers have increased substantially. These figures do not include any revenue derived by offshore destinations that function as Atlantic City online gambling options.

The state based online gambling websites in the state of New Jersey suffer from one major drawback in the laws that allow them to exist in the state. They are only legally allowed to provide their services to people that are physically located within the state of New Jersey. Also, the servers of the online gambling websites that are legally regulated out of New Jersey must be physically located within Atlantic City. This is what causes foreign investors to look elsewhere when considering online gambling partnerships. The limited customer base of New Jersey just isn’t substantial enough to warrant a major move into the state. In addition, there are legally licensed offshore casinos that accept players from New Jersey that offer heftier incentives, bonuses and promotions to attract players, effectively cutting into the state’s revenue. The same can be said for the offshore online poker options as well.

For each of the five months before August of this year, the online gambling websites in New Jersey have seen totals of over $20 million dollars consistently. That pushes the total revenue increase since 2013, when the laws were passed, to over $600 million dollars. This is still a far cry from the initial goal of over $1 billion a year but the latest figures in tax collection from casinos in the state based on online gambling is starting to look like a more-than-reasonable source of cash for the state’s annual budget.

The governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie established the tax rate of online casinos at nearly double that of the brick-and-mortar variants at 15%. They are also required to commit at least 1.25 percent of revenues to projects aimed at creating jobs and other benefits to the resorts in which they are housed.

The revenues that were collected from online casinos in New Jersey for the month of July totaled in at roughly $20.6 million dollars. That marks an 18.5 percent increase when compared to the previous year. The overall gambling revenues from brick-and-mortar casinos were expected to rise with online gambling and it did. The revenues from all gambling establishments in New Jersey are currently up 27 percent as a result of the gambling legislature of 2013. The idea was to revive the gambling economy of New jersey and although it didn’t happen instantly, it is starting to pick up steam and prove the doubters wrong.