Home » OCW News » January 2010 » New Jersey Considers Online Gambling Legislation

New Jersey Considers Online Gambling Legislation

Date published: 19 January 2010

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Both those for and against legalized and regulated online gambling in the United States were surprised recently after New Jersey Senator Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, sponsored a bill designed to allow people who live in the U.S. state of New Jersey to gamble over the internet, i.e. gamble online.

The legislation includes the exact text: 'New Jersey residents to place wagers on casino games via the internet.' It's thought that t he drastic move has been designed to try and help 'kick start' gambling activity in New Jersey's gambling Mecca, Atlantic City, which too has been hard hit by the global economic slump.

Under the terms of the legislation, residents of New Jersey would be allowed to place wagers over the internet provided, however, that the servers and equipment used to facilitate online gambling are located in Atlantic City casinos and resorts, and/or in 'secure off-premise facilities' within Atlantic City limits.

According to the bill, all online gambling games - including poker - would be permitted in Atlantic City. Of course, while New Jersey online gambling fans would benefit from this bill, so will New Jersey, as the state would enjoy an annual tax bonanza of 20 percent of all gross online gambling-generated revenues.

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The bill also specifies the creation of the Division of Internet Wagering, which would be controlled by the state Casino Control Commission. Over and above access to online gambling in Atlantic City, the bill has made allowances to make online gambling available via special terminals at racetracks in New Jersey.

Working together, the Casino Control Commission and the New Jersey Racing Commission would allow online gambling terminals to be accessed at racetracks by individuals 'who have registered to participate in online wagering' and are thus allowed to play the kind of games 'conducted at casinos in Atlantic City.'

The terminals in question are said to resemble slot machines. New Jersey's move comes at a time when despite the U.S. Justice Department's online gambling crackdown, many other states are toying with the idea of offering online gambling within their own borders, including Maine, California and Florida.