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Following his success at getting a referendum to pass legalizing sports betting in the state this past November, State Senator Raymond Lesniak was quick to jump on the Internet gambling bandwagon even before most of us were through nursing our New Year’s Eve hangovers.
Lesniak said he will try to get a bill to Gov. Chris Christie's desk by next week that would allow for New Jersey’s more than 9 million residents to gamble online.
"We can be the Silicon Valley of Internet gaming," he said. "It's the wave of the future."
Nevada became the first state to pass a measure that would allow intrastate online poker. There is some question as to whether their under 4 million population can support such an industry. Most experts point to the pooling of state players in an arrangement similar to PowerBall as a means of achieving maximum success.
Presently, Nevada and New Jersey look the most likely to serve as industry hubs. Donald Trump has already indicated he would like to enter the fray. The casino and real estate mogul already has a foothold in New Jersey and may elect to stay out of the way of Vegas kingpins the likes of Steve Wynn and Gary Loveman, who have been focusing their attention on Nevada’s industry role far longer than Trump.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has already offered his support for legalized sports betting in the state, which will still require the overturning of a federal law. His support of online gambling to date has been somewhat lukewarm, however. That may change for the positive with the DOJ’s recent position made public.
Just days before Christmas, it was learned that the US Justice Department had determined The Wire Act will no longer be applied to online poker, thus providing a green light for states to begin enacting laws without federal government intrusion.
More Gambling News Headlines for Tuesday January 3, 2012 (Afternoon Edition)
Bwin.Party Shares Skyrocket Following DOJ New Stance – Bwin.party shares rose a whopping 25 percent amidst news that the US Department of Justice had changed its stance on The Wire Act no longer being applied to Internet poker (see above). Bwin.party has already entered into an arrangement with two Las Vegas casino giants, MGM and Boyd.
Meanwhile, Directors Jim Ryan and Geoff Baldwin have snapped up shares in the online gaming firm, according to Sharecast.com.
The announcement comes on the same day bwin.party launched a number of online poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Licens Spil (DLS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Danske Spil group.
Danske Spil, which is one of the largest betting and gaming organisations in Europe and 80% owned by the Danish government, already has over 600,000 registered online customers.
Phil Ivey RaiseOnce? – Until recently, Phil Ivey has been Missing In Action. Then he turned up in Macau last month. Now he may have been outed as “RaiseOnce” on PokerStars. One of the world’s most successful pros had previously worked as a representative for the now defunct Full Tilt Poker, where he was believed to have played exclusively online. Read More >>>
Online Poker Tournaments in January 2012 Offering Double the Guarantees - Poker players at Americas Cardroom this January have a good reason to do a double take. The online poker site is starting the year off right by doubling the guarantees in all tournaments for four days straight. Read More Here and See Tournament Schedule >>>>
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
