Press of Atlantic City – Convinced that New Jersey’s new online gambling industry can withstand public demand, regulators cleared six Atlantic City casinos to open up Internet wagering to the general public today.
As of early Tuesday morning, New Jersey became the third state in the country — joining Nevada and Delaware — to offer online gambling to the public. New Jersey and Delaware now offer a range of casino games, while Nevada offers online poker only.
While New Jersey may not be first to enter the realm of online gambling, with a population of 9 million and heavily trafficked borders, many experts said New Jersey’s success will be used to gauge how successful the industry can be in the U.S.
Challenges remain as operators will continue to evolve geolocation and identity verification technologies, as well as payment-processing services.
Despite numerous reports of individuals within the state’s borders being incorrectly blocked from play, New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Director David Rebuck said from a regulatory perspective, the systems are performing correctly. He characterized the geolocation issues not as a regulatory problem, but instead an operator challenge.
The soft play roll-out has already been compared by some to the botched website introduction of the Affordable Care Act, a comparison Rebuck opposes. There are no significant regulatory problems or technical barriers to going live, he said.
“People ask me, ‘Are you going to have a meltdown, a failure, in the way Obamacare is happening?’“ Rebuck said. “There’s so many distinctions, it’s almost incredible I have to answer it. … (Internet) gaming is an entertainment function. It’s not a core life responsibility.”
