Home / Poker News December 2012 / The Poker Grapevine – New Jersey at it Again
The Poker Grapevine – New Jersey at it Again
Posted by: Jo Martin - Wed, 2012-12-05 09:28
New Jersey was one of the first US states where the idea of legal and regulated intra-state
online poker almost resulted in a poker bill a couple of years ago. Governor Chris Christie shot down the initiative then, but it looks like New Jersey lawmakers are hell-bent on pushing something through the legislative process regardless. An amended bill the goal of which is the legalization of intra-state online gambling is currently in the works, and it has just made spectacular progress on Monday, when it was approved by the New Jersey Assembly.
If the initiative ever succeeds, land based Atlantic City Casinos will be allowed to offer New Jersey residents online gambling and online poker too. The move is clearly aimed at putting an end to Delaware and Pennsylvania casinos’ cannibalizing Atlantic City’s customer-base. While the online gambling (as in casino games) part of the deal seams feasible indeed, the online poker part may never get to take off due to the restricted player-pool.
According to New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak, again the driving force behind the initiative, New Jersey may yet gain the upper hand in internet gambling. Lesniak had initially hoped to push his bill through in March, but opposition from racing interests as well as possibly from the Governor, have delayed the process yet again.
In other news: although federal-level legalization efforts seem to have run out of steam, some groups still appear to be lobbying for a poker bill to be passed during the lame duck session of Congress. The American Gaming Association has said that it views federally regulated poker as the only way to stop the state-by-state expansion of the industry, which would lead to inadequate oversight and extra risks/complications for law enforcement.
