Initially the bill was vetoed by the Governor because of issues surrounding transparency and taxes. Lawmakers adjusted the text and the amended bill passed by an overwhelming majority in the legislature and earned Christie’s seal of approval.
Casinos located in Atlantic City will be able to use for a license to offer online gambling. Only the twelve official Atlantic City casinos is going to be entitled to the license. No other organizations could possibly offer internet gambling, and face stiff fines should they do. All facilities employed for the operation of internet gambling must certanly be located within city limits; only bets which can be received by a server in Atlantic City is going to be legal.
Players must certanly be “physically present” in New Jersey to position wagers. As time goes on, New Jersey may develop agreements with other states where internet gambling is legal to permit out-of-state gambling. The casino’s equipment must verify players’ locations before accepting wagers.
Any games available to play in the casinos may be played online. (For comparison, Nevada only allows poker.) As of this moment, sports betting won’t be protected by this bill, although their state of New Jersey is wanting to fight the federal statute barring the legalization of sports betting.
The bill has all kinds of provisions to keep gambling addiction away, such as for instance requiring the prominent display of the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline number, ways to set maximum bets and losses over a certain time frame, and tracking player losses to spot and limit users who may demonstrate addictive gambling behavior.
Revenue from online gambling will carry a 15% tax. The Christie administration states that about $180 million in revenue for their state is going to be generated using this tax, however many analysts think this number is seriously overestimated.
The state regulations, which the bill required the Division of Gaming Enforcement to produce, were released on June 3, and are susceptible to a ไทเกอร์711 “public comment period” until August 2 before being finalized. These rules include details such as for instance what sort of casino acquires the correct licenses and procedures for maintaining network security on gambling sites.
Revenues from Atlantic City casinos have been on the decline for yesteryear seven years, and online gambling could be what saves the failing casinos. Since 2006, casino revenue has dropped from $5.2 billion to around $3 billion. Online gambling is actually a $500 million to $1 billion industry in New Jersey, which might be enough to keep struggling casinos afloat and save jobs in Atlantic City. Further, although estimates of tax revenue are throughout the map, there is potential for online gambling to be always a considerably valuable supply of money for the state. The casinos will also have to pay a tax to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, that will provide further assistance to struggling casinos in Atlantic City.
For the gamer, low overhead costs mean better prizes and more opportunities to play. Casinos can incent players with free “chips” that have minimal costs for them but give players more opportunities to play and win. The ease of gambling online allows players to play more with less travel.
One of the goals of the bill is supposedly to attract more folks to go to the brick-and-mortar casinos, but it is hard to express if online gambling will in truth lead to the outcome. You can speculate it could even cause people to attend the casinos less (However, this seems unlikely; the social element and the free drinks are lost in online gambling. Also, research suggests that, at the least with poker, internet gaming does not reduce casino gaming.) Advertising for the host casino is going to be allowed on the internet gambling sites, which could possibly encourage people to go to the casino but may be annoying for players.
Online gambling could be seriously devastating for people who have gambling addictions, as well as cause people to produce them, raising financial and moral concerns. Even with all the preventative steps the bill requires, it will definitely be much harder to stop compulsive gamblers if they can place bets anywhere with a web connection.
Regardless, it will probably be a while before the casinos can in fact start their online gambling offerings. The regulations must be finalized and casinos need to use for licensure and develop their gambling websites. What this means is the casinos won’t be enjoying this new supply of revenue through the 2013 summer season, that could be Atlantic City’s toughest season ever following recovery from Hurricane Sandy.