An interstate online gambling compact between Nevada and New Jersey has never really come close to becoming a reality, but Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval still wants to try to make it happen. Speaking at the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee meeting in Las Vegas on Friday, Sandoval expressed mild frustration that his state hasn’t gotten anything going with New Jersey.
Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Rick Velotta was at the meeting, live tweeting the proceedings. The meeting revolved primarily around e-sports and the possibility of Nevada becoming a gambling hub for the fast-rising form of entertainment and competition. Talk did move briefly to online poker, though.
According to Velotta, Sandoval was “perplexed” as to why New Jersey has balked at entering into an agreement to share player liquidity with Nevada. He feels it would be a great thing to bring the two gambling giants of the United States together to create an online poker force.
“It would be like putting together the Yankees and the Dodgers,” Sandoval said.
He added that despite New Jersey’s reluctance in the past, he would still like to talk to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie about getting a deal done.
Aside from states actually legalizing online poker (or the federal government legalizing it nationally), the establishment of interstate gaming compacts will likely be the most important thing that will determine the long-term success of online poker in the U.S. Internet poker is a game of liquidity. Poker sites need players – and lots of them – to survive. This sounds obvious; after all, any business needs customers, but for online poker it is nearly a do-or-die proposition. Poker sites that have very little traffic not only generate little revenue, but the empty tables make the sites look unattractive to prospective players. Those potential customers then opt not to sign-up, keeping the site a ghost town. Eventually, current customers leave because of the poor game selection and the sites die.
The busy poker sites, on the other hand, are bustling, with lots of full tables and plenty of game selection. Their current players keep playing, while prospective customers see a hopping site and sign-up. Both cycles perpetuate themselves.
Online poker in Nevada has survived, but barely, because of its small population. In February 2014, Sandoval and Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed the “Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement”(MSIGA), allowing for their states’ player pools to be merged. It has not made much of a difference because of the size of the two states, but at least it isn’t nothing.
New Jersey got off to a slow start with its internet gaming industry, but it has picked up the pace and is starting to reap the rewards. It helps that it is the 11th largest state in the U.S. in terms of population, with an estimated 9 million residents. It is large enough to sustain an online gambling industry by itself, which is why Nevada really wants to partner with it.
California is the big prize when it comes to interstate compacts; if and when it gets online poker up and running, you can bet other states – perhaps even New Jersey – will be calling. Other states with sizeable populations that are looking into legalizing online gambling include Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts.
