As of midnight on November 26 New Jersey gamblers will be able to bet the farm by logging onto their choice of 13 internet gaming websites run by six of Atlantic City’s casinos.
Gamblers can thank state regulators who gave the go ahead on the websites in the wake of a 5-day testing period in which they found “no significant, widespread regulatory problems or technical barriers for going live.” That assessment was according to David Rebuck, director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
New Jersey will become the country’s third state to make online gambling legal, but it is by far the most populated with 9 million residents. During the 5-day test phase the total number of players entering the websites reached 10,000 during the initial three days of 24-hour testing.
Casinos had to limit the number of players to only 500 at any one time on each website during the testing time, and they were also limited in how much they could advertise the sites. Tonight, when the sites go live, these restrictions will be lifted for the sites that have been approved. Officials are optimistic that the new online gambling venue will help give the state’s casinos an economic boost that they sorely need.
“You have to be gradual. You have to be cautious. You have to be measured,” Rebuck said.
He added that casinos wanted to be sure the sites were capable of handling the traffic before they invited large numbers of players.
“You’re going to see accelerating efforts by them to be much more aggressive” about marketing, he said.
