With the switch barely flipped on their intrastate online gaming operations, the state of New Jersey is now looking to become a portal for international gaming outlets to house their businesses.
One of the longtime proponents of online gaming (not only in the state but also nationwide), New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak, announced yesterday that he has introduced legislation that would allow international online gaming companies to operate under the auspices of New Jersey regulation. That legislation has already cleared one hurdle, a Senate committee, and is expected to be heard by the full Senate soon. A similar bill in the New Jersey Assembly has yet to emerge from its committee, however, which could slow down the plans that Lesniak envisions.
According to PocketFives.com’s Dan Cypra, the proposed legislation was sparked by conversations that Lesniak has had with the online gaming industry. “I’ve been approached by other internet gaming companies that have said they would love to set up shop in New Jersey,” Lesniak stated during a teleconference regarding the bill yesterday. Through offering tax incentives to move to the Garden State, Lesniak believes that foreign operators would jump at the chance to come to the U. S. “We have a very reliable regulatory system that will give a stamp of approval for the rest of the world on these sites,” Lesniak argued. “Ultimately, a lot of these companies believe the U. S. market will open up and they will have an advantage by being here.”
While this might sound like fantastic news for American online poker players and gamblers, there are several caveats that have left the gaming community generally apathetic about Lesniak’s legislation. Cypra reports that the bill, while allowing international companies to set up shop in New Jersey, would not allow U. S. citizens to take part of their wares. The current intrastate system in New Jersey also would not be allowed to merge with these proposed sites per the regulations that were enacted earlier this year.
In addition to Lesniak’s announcement of his new legislation yesterday, New Jersey gaming officials cracked the seal on their intrastate online gaming operations with a “soft test” launch at 6PM last night. Prior to and following that magic hour, players flooded the sites that were offered, looking to be some of the “guinea pigs” for the soft test of the various components of New Jersey’s system. Over the course of the evening, some of the same factors that arose when Nevada’s Ultimate Poker (the first regulated online gaming site in the United States) came online also afflicted New Jersey’s opening.
The rush of players trying to download the software from the different sites in the New Jersey operation caused some delays and drops simply due to the influx of players. Once players under the “soft test” were able to get everything loaded properly, some found the age verification procedures a bit difficult to navigate. One issue that has affected the New Jersey opening is something that will not be able to be changed, however.
Players complained about the geolocation procedures for several of the sites, which include operations from Caesars Interactive Entertainment, the Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza and the Borgata. Those same geolocation issues (players located too close to the border of the state) were an issue with the Nevada launch of Ultimate Poker and, unfortunately, if a player is too close to the edge of the state (or their computer’s IP address is routed through a server in another state), there is little that can be done about it.
Even with these stumbling blocks, players in the Garden State seem to be happy about the return of online gaming, even if it is on an intrastate basis. “Just finished third in my first MTT on WSOP.com,” ‘mikewebb68’ wrote over the PocketFives forums. “Only 36 runners, but not bad at all for the first night of the soft launch. Encountered more than one person who had not played online poker at all since Black Friday.”
Throughout this weekend, the “soft test” of the New Jersey system will be ongoing. Friday night will see players allowed access to the site from 6PM to 2AM and, on Saturday, those hours will be expanded to 8AM to midnight. Sunday will mark the first 24-hour opening period and, if all goes well through Sunday and Monday and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement signs off on it, the entirety of New Jersey will be able to access the sites on Tuesday.
The “soft test” period for New Jersey’s online gaming scene will be a “soft test” as well for any companies looking to relocate to the state. If Lesniak’s proposed law passes, the players who would come to the United States to run their operations will definitely watch this weekend’s action to see if it would be worthwhile.