New Jersey Officially Goes Live With Online Gambling Websites

The day has finally arrived for legalized online gambling in New Jersey.  Internet gambling domains, in partnership with Atlantic City casinos officially went live at 12:01am last night to all adult users living within the Garden State, marking the largest gambling expansion in the US since casinos were legalized in the 1970s.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement authorized 13 online gambling domains to go live across the state.  The online casinos are partnered with six of Atlantic City’s boardwalk casinos, though the DGE deliberately withheld an online gambling license for the Golden Nugget, whose internet partner PokerStars is struggling to receive clearance with the DGE.

The online casinos were opened to invited players on November 21, where players could pre-register accounts for when the sites were scheduled to go live to the public.  The casinos are authorized to provide over 240 casino games for entertainment, including variations of online slots, blackjack, roulette, and poker. 

According to state gambling officials, over 10,000 New Jersey residents registered accounts ahead of the public launch.  Regulators also went outside state borders to test if security measures would prevent unauthorized users from accessing the sites.

David Rebuck, Director of the DGE, was pleased that external users were unable to breach the security firewalls.  He was also excited with the number of preregistered users, and expects more online casino accounts to open in the days and weeks ahead.

“I was surprised myself with the volume of the registrants and the amount of play engaged in.”

The DGE will monitor the inflow of traffic to the gambling websites.  Early stats suggest most players are accessing the sites from their home computers as opposed to the mobile gambling network.  New Jersey will also impose a 15 percent online gambling tax as a means of supporting the Atlantic City casinos, which are only charged an 8 percent gambling tax.

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