Legal online gambling has now been launched in the US state of New Jersey. This is highly significant for all sorts of reasons – but mainly because NJ could simply be the first domino to topple.
The online gambling and gaming industry is a multi-billion dollar one in most parts of the world, but not in the USA, due to legislation passed way back in 1961. But the act passed then – the well-known 1961 Wire Act – means that an individual state may decide to legalize online gambling – but only if both the gambling sites and the players playing are within that state’s borders.
Hitherto, only Nevada and Delaware have allowed online gambling, but even here various restrictions are in place. Now, New Jersey has joined them – but there are still practical problems to iron out. In particular, geo-location technology helps regulators check where any gambler is logging on and this is used to debar any gamblers from outside a state’s territory. But this is problematic in practice, often blocking legitimate users within state lines and tests in New Jersey have already confirmed this remains a problem.
But the U.S is traditionally all about the business of free enterprise and online gambling is enormous business being worth an estimated $2 billion a year in the UK alone; a country with virtually no restrictions.
The estimates for business in New Jersey, now that online gambling is legal, range anywhere between $250 million and $1.2 billion per annum.
And you can be sure that, given the amounts involved, the technological issues will be ironed out. And once one state has a good online gaming operation up and running, and is earning big bucks from that, others will surely follow.
Already, there are moves to identify which are the best operators in the state. With Onlinecasinobluebook.com/nj, for example, gamblers wishing to take advantage of the new deregulation can quickly find the best and most trustworthy sites. This is a free website aimed at better informing all New Jersey players who are thinking about taking up online gambling.
Onlinecasinobluebook covers all the top online casinos now eligible to offer gaming to New Jersey residents. The site also covers a whole host of other issues including things like the relative generosity of welcome bonuses, pay-out percentages, user ratings and whether sites enable mobile gaming or not.
In short, the site has taken all the hard work out of things for gamblers; examining all aspects of the eligible casinos and reviewing each to provide all potential NJ players with a helpful guide in this brave new world the state has now entered. It seems likely that the initial period of take-up will be absolutely crucial for the competing casinos involved.
Which other starts will join the party, and exactly when they will do so, remains to be seen. But you can bet that New Jersey is simply the first domino to topple.
