New Jersey Online Gambling Brief: “NJ Sportsbetting by 2015”
MGM Grand
There is a lot going on in New Jersey and across the US when it comes to online gambling, but perhaps the biggest story of the week was State Senator Raymond Lesniak’s bombshell declaration that New Jersey would have sportsbetting next year, which he made at the recent East Coast Gaming Congress, telling attendees, “You can take that to the bank.”
Lesniak’s remarks aren’t the only big news either.
In this week’s New Jersey Online Gambling Brief we’ll also let you know how partypoker’s most recent $100k Guarantee Tournament fared; which national group is calling for minimum standards and some level of uniformity in online gambling laws; as well as some upcoming live and online tournaments you won’t want to miss in the Garden State, including a special Barstool Sports event in early June.
Small overlay in Borgata / Party $100k Guarantee
494 players registered for the most recent $100k Guaranteed tournament at the sister sites of BorgataPoker.com and NJ.PartyPoker.com, which left Borgata / partypoker on the hook for just $1,200 of the $100k prize-pool in their most recent attempt at a weekly $100k tournament – an idea the site seems to be flirting with on a permanent basis.
Overall the site has done well in hosting these $100k tournaments on Sundays, even when they do little in the way of advertising the tournaments have met or nearly met their guarantees. The first was still the largest (and the most hyped) with over 760 entries, but so far the site has yet to take a bath on any of these events.
Here is a look at the payouts from this week’s tournament:
- hort336 – $18,500
- MotherofDragons – $12,600
- CANILIVE – $7,950
- mangoicetea -$4,950
- g00kstyle – $3,150
- Jaybone2315 – $2,450
- AceTenBJ – $2,050
- CumToDaddy – $1,680
- Mercedes1951 – $1,400
NCLGS calls for minimum standards
The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (Henceforth called NCLGS for brevity and to maintain my sanity) is seeking to create some minimum standards for any future states that are considering online gaming expansion according to an article that appeared in The Associated Press last week.
The Upstate New York based group is against a ban of online gambling but sees the need for some uniformity and for certain mandatory thresholds.
The Chairman of the NCLGS, Florida state Rep. James Waldman was quoted in the article as saying NCLGS “wants to ensure that an effective system is in place for those that do allow intrastate Internet gaming, and that policy standards are in place to promote security and uniformity in states that may wish to form interstate Internet compacts.”
The NCLGS is just the one prominent group to throw their support behind online gaming, joining such groups as the Fraternal Order of Police, a consortium of Conservative and Libertarian lobbying groups and think tanks, and the Democratic Governors Association.
Lesniak: Sportsbetting coming to NJ “Take it to the bank”
The possibility of legal sportsbetting in New Jersey has gone all the way to the Supreme Court, but even if the SCOTUS decides not to hear the case or rules against New Jersey, the Garden State may have legalized sportsbetting regardless.
At the recent East Coast Gaming Congress the architect of New Jersey’s online gambling bill, and the man who spearheaded the push for legalized sportsbetting in New Jersey, State Senator Raymond Lesniak stated, New Jersey will have legal sportsbetting and “you can take that to the bank.”
This is quite a bold statement considering the federal ban on sportsbetting, but as NorthJersey.com’s John Brennan explains in this article, it’s not entirely out of the question, and Lesniak’s proclamation is not as halfcocked as it first appears when you consider the PASPA case.
Essentially Lesniak is willing to see if the federal government is really serious about its ban (which Lesniak has called unconstitutional, legitimately in many people’s opinion, as it has exemptions for several states) by taking the industry private at the state’s racetracks and casinos.
This could shape up to be one of the most interesting stories of 2014/2015 if Lesniak is indeed serious about this.
New Jersey traffic numbers
New Jersey’s online poker traffic seems to have leveled off as Borgata / Party was able to slightly increase their lead over WSOP.com from 150 players to 120 players according to www.pokerscout.com.
Borgata / Party didn’t gain any ground, instead it was WSOP.com who lost ground this week, dipping from 130 average cash-game players to 120.
888Poker, which has been dropping like a cinder block in a lake in recent weeks, finally stopped the bleeding, and was able to produce a slight traffic increase this week, jumping from 55 players to 60 players. The increase could be due to the site’s recent implementation of a VIP Program, but it’s still too early to tell at this point.
Ultimate Poker’s struggles continue in the market with only a single hand needed to count the average traffic at the site.
We thought you should know…
WSOP.com teams up with Barstool Sports
Barstool Sports is getting into the Internet poker game… well sort of.
In a recent blog post (yes I read Barstool every day, multiple times a day) El Pres announced they will be hosting a $20 buy-in online tournament at WSOP.com.
The tournament is slated for June 4th at 8 PM.
Couple things, you have to sign up at WSOP.com through Barstool’s link to be eligible, and obviously you have to be in New Jersey to play.
Viva La Stool!
WSOP National Championship coming to New Jersey
The WSOP National Championship is just about to begin at the newly branded Bally’s WSOP Poker Room in Atlantic City.
The tournament will take place from May 22 – 24, and will be the first gold bracelet awarded in 2014.
The General Manager of Bally’s, Kevin Ortzman, is certainly ready to get the tournament started:
“We are dedicated to making our new room the best in New Jersey, and are excited for players to see all the great things happening in Atlantic City with the convergence of online and land-based gaming.”
