Poker News – Ever since he first introduced legislation to license and regulate Internet gambling in New Jersey in 2010, New Jersey State Sen. Ray Lesniak has prophesied of the Garden State being at the center of the emerging industry in the United States — the Silicon Valley of online wagering. That explains his frustration Tuesday when he heard that Delaware and Nevada had taken the first step to create an interstate online poker network, announcing an agreement to combine poker player pools.
Delaware and New Jersey seem to make the more natural partners. They are neighbors, and they both offer full casino gambling while Nevada is limited to poker.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing,” Lesniak told PokerNews in a phone conversation Tuesday. “I’m not sure why we didn’t win that battle. I don’t even know if we were in it. I’m going to have to look into this and see quite frankly what went wrong.”
The landmark deal between Nevada and Delaware was worked out between their respective governors, Brian Sandoval and Jack Markell. On the very day New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie approved online gambling in the state, Lesniak urged the governor to begin courting other states to partner with New Jersey.
“Gov. Christie decides everything,” Lesniak said. “Maybe he was distracted. Our governor being distracted with scandal problems can hurt us, and possibly that’s what happened in this case.”
