Chris Christie - NJ governor
New Jersey governor Chris Christie yesterday lent his conditional support to a bill that would allow Atlantic City’s casinos to offer online versions of their games, recommending minor amendments ahead of his signing it into law.
In imposing a conditional veto on Assembly Bill 2578, Christie said he had concluded “that now is the right time for the state to move forward and again lead the nation by becoming one of the first states to permit Internet gaming.”
Among the suggested changes, Christie has recommended increasing the tax on online casino revenues from 10% to 15%, an enhanced level of funding for problem gambling programmes and further safeguards against corruption of officials.
“Our State cannot carelessly create a new generation of addicted gamers, sitting in their homes, using laptops or iPads, gambling their salaries and their futures”, explained Christie.
The law will also “sunset” after ten years, allowing legislators to renew or revise the law as necessary.
Bill sponsors Senator Raymond Lesniak and Senator Jim Whelan recently added language to the bill to enable PokerStars to seek regulatory approval for its proposed buy of the struggling Atlantic Club casino in the state. A “bad actor” clause that would have prevented the licensing of companies that took US bets post 2006 – when the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed – was removed.
In December, Lesniak also welcomed PokerStars’ potential investment and establishing its American headquarters in New Jersey, saying it was proof that “New Jersey – not Nevada – can be the hub for a new wave of growth in the gambling industry.”
Christie signing the bill into law would make New Jersey the third US state to pass internet gambling legislation since the US DOJ issued its landmark December 2011 clarification that the Wire Act applied only to the transmission of sports betting wagers across state borders. This effectively cleared the way for Nevada and Delaware to explicitly authorise and regulate other forms of online gaming within their borders.
With federal regulation of online poker well down the political agenda in Washington and states such as Nevada already laying the groundwork for interstate compacts and liquidity sharing for online poker, the US now looks set to regulate online gambling on a state-by-state basis over the next few years. One national liquidity pool for poker consequently appears a remote prospect at this time, with this likely to be fragmented across lottery-led states, tribal casino-led states such as California, and other US states entering into compacts.
The shares of London-listed companies with ties to gaming interests in the state displayed strong gains this morning. These included bwin.party, which has a deal with Borgota owner Boyd Gaming; 888, which provides software to Caesars and its WSOP brand in Europe; and Sportech, which has a casino supply licence in New Jersey relating to its simulcast racing products. Shares in Playtech, which acquired 10% of Sportech as part of the transaction for Sci Games Racing, were also up.
Article written by Stephen Carter
