New Jersey Online Gambling Brief: 2 Anti-Gambling Bills Introduced, Spring Traffic Slump, and More
The online gambling industry in the US has been anything but boring as of late as legislative battles over iGaming have heated up to a point we have never seen before.
For instance, this week New Jersey lawmakers passed a bill in the state senate with the potential to turn New Jersey into an international hub for online gambling. Meanwhile just a few hundred miles to the south in Washington DC lawmakers are introducing legislation that would ban all forms of online gambling at the behest of Sheldon Adelson.
In this installment of the New Jersey Online Gambling Brief we’ll fill you in on the efforts to ban online gambling at the federal level (which has little chance of passing) and get you caught up on the latest happenings on several other online gambling fronts in New Jersey, including a gluttonous amount of partypoker news.
Congress introduces 2 bills that would rollback NJ’s online gambling laws
On Wednesday Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced identical bills into the House and Senate calling on Congress to rewrite the 1961 Wire Act in a way that would prohibit most forms of online gambling –there are of course certain carveouts for lotteries, horse racing, and fantasy sports, because that’s how Washington DC works.
The bills bear the fingerprints of Sheldon Adelson and his Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG), which praised the bills on their website:
“We support and applaud all efforts to restore the long-standing interpretation that the Wire Act prohibits Internet gambling. It’s common sense that putting a virtual casino in the pocket of every American with a phone is bad public policy,” said former New York Gov. George Pataki (R-NY), former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, National Co-Chairs of the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.
“We are deeply concerned about the explosive growth of Internet gambling and its negative impacts on middle class families, the economy, and even our national security.
“We applaud Sen. Graham and Rep. Chaffetz for taking leadership roles to call a time-out and give the public and Congress an opportunity to examine these and other negative consequences of Internet gambling. We urge Congress to move swiftly to pass it.”
Unfortunately for CSIG there is also an opposition fighting against these antiquated measures, including the Democratic Governors Association which objected to these efforts on Monday, sending a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
The Restore America’s Wire Act bills, as they are being called, are not expected to gain much traction, let alone pass, as there are several major obstacles standing in their way.
That being said, you never know what can happen in the halls of Congress, and while I’d list the chances close to 0% in their current version, an amendment here or there (such as an online poker carveout which is the linchpin in my opinion, or a grandfather clause for states that already have online gambling) could see this legislation passed, but at that point it would be somewhat agreeable to everyone.
Neteller added by partypoker and Borgata
As payment processing continues to be one of the still unsolved problems in New Jersey’s iGaming industry, players at BorgataPoker.com and NJ.PartyPoker.com now have another deposit and withdrawal option at their disposal as Optimal Payments has announced they are now offering their Neteller service at the online gambling sites in New Jersey.
Borgata and partypoker now offer the best selection of banking options, with eWallets Neteller and Skrill, as well as a pre-paid credit card available.
Neteller is now available at both partypoker sites, WSOP.com, and 888 in New Jersey. The only online poker site in New Jersey that is not offering Neteller is Ultimate Poker, so there 11 players are out of luck – I kid Ultimate Poker, I kid.
partypoker takes the go big or go home approach
There is a lot more going on at partypoker than the addition of Neteller, in fact there is so much happening at partypoker this week that NJPokerOnline.net decided to put partypoker in their weekly spotlight, dedicating an entire column to the numerous promotions and events going at the site:
- WPT Spring Poker Open at the Borgata less than one month away
- $100k Guarantee returns to Borgata Party NJ this weekend
- Milestone hand #26,000,000 reached; Countdown to 30,000,000 rolls on
- WPT Championship satellites now available at NJ.PARTYPoker.com and BorgataPoker.com
Head over to NJPO for complete details.
New Jersey traffic numbers
Spring is usually looked upon as a season for growth, but for online poker sites this is simply not the case. Spring has historically been a slow time for online poker sites, and New Jersey is experiencing this phenomenon first hand, as traffic has dipped once again this week according to www.pokerscout.com.
Party / Borgata are still at the front of the pack with average cash-game traffic of 200 players; WSOP.com continues to be the bridesmaid in New Jersey, with average traffic of 150 players; sitting in the #3 spot is 888 with average traffic of 100 players; and Ultimate Poker is a distant fourth as their average traffic numbers creep towards single digits.
For a more detailed look at the NJ traffic numbers you check out Robert DellaFave’s complete breakdown of New Jersey traffic numbers at NewJerseyPokerOnline.net.
We thought you should know…
WSOP.com has a new team to root for
In January partypoker teamed up with the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Prudential Center, creating the first sports / online gambling partnership in the US market (these partnerships are quite common in Europe) and now WSOP.com has followed suit, entering into a similar agreement with the New York Rangers.
