New Jersey Online Gambling Brief November 20, 2013
We are now at “T –Minus 1 and counting” until the soft launch of online gambling in New Jersey and there is quite a bit going on.
Here is a look at some of the stories we will cover in this week’s installment of the New Jersey Online Gambling Brief: Digital fences on NJ borders; the poker community is keenly aware of the importance of a successful NJ launch; and the NJ DGE final license update before Thursday’s soft launch.
US poker players keeping a sharp eye on New Jersey
New Jersey is the third state to launch online poker, but it’s the first state that has the population to achieve a player pool considered large enough to sustain itself. Because of this, the poker community (players, providers, and industry types) are keeping a close eye on New Jersey to see what kind of sustainable numbers the state’s 8.7 million residents can produce.
In Nevada, with a population of 2.7 million, Ultimate Poker and WSOP.com have a combined seven-day rolling average of 225 real-money cash-game players according to pokerscout.com, and peak traffic of about 450 players.
With three-times the population base, New Jersey is expected to have average traffic somewhere in the 500-600 player range, with peak-traffic climbing into the low-four-figures once the industry is established.
Digital fences may exclude players near the NJ border
According to an article by the Associated Press, New Jersey will be setting up “Digital Fences” along its border to help insure that all players participating at the state’s soon to be launched online gambling sites are within the state of New Jersey.
The measure will almost certainly preclude many New Jersey residents from participating as it would effectively create blackout areas inside New Jersey. The intention of the safeguard is to keep players from logging in while near the New Jersey border and then crossing the border to New York, Pennsylvania, or Delaware.
“Unfortunately for some people, there may not be sufficient verification that they are in New Jersey — even if they are — and they’ll be denied,” said David Rebuck, director of the state Division of Gaming Enforcement. “It’s an unavoidable consequence.”
Rip Gerber, the president of the geo-location company Locaid summed up the problem thusly:
“People will try to cheat. You know there will be some guy filming himself for YouTube, starting a poker hand in New Jersey on the PATH train and trying to finish it in New York.”
A similar measure is in place in Nevada, where residents living within a mile and half of the border are precluded from playing. While not all that big of a deal in Nevada (with its sparse border population) a mile and a half digital fence would be nightmarish in New Jersey, considering some of New Jersey’s most populous areas abut other states, especially New York.
It’s unclear at this time how far out the Digital Fence will be in New Jersey, but if it’s similar to Nevada you can expect the poker forums to light up with complaints when New Jersey goes live.
November 15th: NJ DGE updates ACSIE and Vendor License lists
On November 15th, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement updated its ACSIE (service providers) and Vendor Registrants license lists.
Idology, a customer verification company, joined the 12 other ACSIE license holders, while 16 more companies were approved for a Vendor license by the DGE, putting the total number of Vendor Registrants well above 50.
November 20th: Caesars slides in final license update prior to soft launch
With the soft launch planned for Thursday at 6PM, the NJ DGE announced three more additions to the list of companies approved for an ACSIE license and Vendor Registrants:
* LocationSmart
* Arbor Network
* OPL Payment Services
More significantly, two Caesars Entertainment properties, Bally’s and Caesar’s received their New Jersey online gaming licenses Wednesday evening, and will be part of the soft launch.
No other updates are planned, which means PokerStars and Resorts Casino is the odd-man-out, and will not be part of the soft launch, and will not be able to participate in the full launch scheduled for November 26th.
Here is a comprehensive list of the approved license holders in New Jersey: NJ Online Gambling License List
