Casinos positioned in Atlantic City will have the ability to apply for a license to offer online gambling. Only the twelve official Atlantic City casinos will soon be qualified to receive the license. No other organizations will offer internet gambling, and face stiff fines if they do. All facilities employed for the operation of internet gambling must be located within city limits; only bets which are received by way of a server in Atlantic City will soon be legal.
– Players must be “physically present” in New Jersey to position wagers. Later 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 can be played online. (For comparison, Nevada only allows poker.) Currently, 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 help keep gambling addiction from increasing, 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 time period, 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 will soon be generated using this tax, however many analysts think this number is seriously overestimated.
The official regulations, which the bill required the Division of Gaming Enforcement to produce, were released on June 3, and are subject to a “public comment period” until August 2 before being finalized. These rules include details such as for example how a casino acquires the correct 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 been on the decline for the past seven years, and online gambling might 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 help keep struggling casinos afloat and save jobs in Atlantic City. Further, although estimates of tax revenue are all over the map, there is prospect of online gambling to be a considerably valuable source of money for the state. The casinos will also need to pay a tax to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which 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” sbobet that have minimal costs for them but give players more opportunities to play and win. The convenience of gambling online allows players to play more with less travel.
BAD:
One of the goals of the bill is supposedly to attract more people to visit the brick-and-mortar casinos, but it’s hard to say if online gambling will actually lead to the outcome. You can speculate it might even cause people to visit the casinos less (However, this seems unlikely; the social element and the free drinks are lost in online gambling. Also, research suggests that, at least with poker, internet gaming does not reduce casino gaming.) Advertising for the host casino will soon be allowed on the online gambling sites, which might encourage people to visit the casino but could also be annoying for players.
Online gambling might be seriously devastating for people who have gambling addictions, or even cause people to develop them, raising financial and moral concerns. Even with the preventative steps the bill requires, it will definitely be much harder to cut off compulsive gamblers if they are able to place bets anywhere with a net connection.
Regardless, it will be considered a while prior to the casinos can in fact start up their online gambling offerings. The regulations must be finalized and casinos need to apply for licensure and develop their gambling websites. This means the casinos will not be enjoying this new source of revenue during the 2013 summer season, which could be Atlantic City’s toughest season ever following recovery from Hurricane Sandy.