New Jersey Online Gambling Bill

Online gaming continues to increase in popularity and the state of New Jersey wants its cut too.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak has introduced Senate Bill 490 which would bring online gaming to the state using the many Atlantic City casinos as a conduit.

If the legislation were to pass (unknown now because it currently does not have a legislative sponsor), it would allow only brick-and-mortar Atlantic City casinos to be licensed to run online casinos. Many of the most popular Atlantic City casinos are said to be interested in running their own casinos, and this legislation would legalize and regulate that.

SB490 is similar to the legislation currently under discussion in California, but the California legislation allows the Morongo Indian and other tribes to run the online casinos and branch out from their current brick-and-mortar casinos. New Jersey’s legislation would allow the casinos to create business competition in the state instead of allowing one group or organization to have a monopoly on the business.
Allowing the casinos would be the first move in also legalizing online poker in the state of New Jersey. If passed, the bill wouldn’t affect the rights that New Jersey residents now have to play at offshore casino and poker sites.
The bill ensures that elements of it could be pre-empted by current federal legislation.