Initially the bill was vetoed by the Governor as a result 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.
Listed below are the fundamentals of the bill:
– Casinos positioned in Atlantic City will have the ability to utilize for a license to provide online gambling. Only the twelve official Atlantic City casinos is going to be entitled to the license. No other organizations can offer internet gambling, and face stiff fines should they do. All facilities useful for the operation of internet gambling must certanly be located within city limits; only bets which are received by a server in Atlantic City is going to be legal.
– Players must certanly be “physically present” in New Jersey to put 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.) Currently, yakin77 sports betting will not be protected by this bill, although their state of New Jersey is attempting to fight the federal statute barring the legalization of sports betting.
– The bill has all sorts of provisions to keep gambling addiction at bay, such as for example requiring the prominent display of the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline number, a way to set maximum bets and losses over a particular period of time, and tracking player losses to identify 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 from this tax, however many analysts think this number is seriously overestimated.
The state regulations, that your bill required the Division of Gaming Enforcement to produce, were released on June 3, and are susceptible to a “public comment period” until August 2 before being finalized. These rules include details such as for example how a casino acquires the appropriate licenses and procedures for maintaining network security on gambling sites.
So, will online gambling actually benefit their state?
The Good
Revenues from Atlantic City casinos have now been on the decline for days gone by seven years, and online gambling could possibly be what saves the failing casinos. Since 2006, casino revenue has dropped from $5.2 billion to around $3 billion. Online gambling could be 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, even though estimates of tax revenue are all over the map, there is prospect of online gambling to be 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 player, low overhead costs mean better prizes and more opportunities to play. Casinos can incent players with free “chips” which 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.
BAD:
Among the goals of the bill is supposedly to attract more individuals to see the brick-and-mortar casinos, but it’s hard to express if online gambling will in actuality lead to this outcome. One could speculate it could even cause people to go to the casinos less (However, this seems unlikely; the social element and the free drinks are lost in online gambling. Also, research shows 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 might encourage people to see the casino but may be annoying for players.
Online gambling could possibly be seriously devastating for those who have gambling addictions, or even cause people to develop them, raising financial and moral concerns. Even with all the current preventative steps the bill requires, it will certainly be much harder to stop compulsive gamblers if they could place bets anywhere with a net connection.
Regardless, it will probably be described as a while prior to the casinos can start their online gambling offerings. The regulations need to be finalized and casinos need to utilize for licensure and develop their gambling websites. What this means is the casinos will not be enjoying this new supply of revenue throughout the 2013 summer season, that could be Atlantic City’s toughest season ever following recovery from Hurricane Sandy.