New Jersey Regulates Online Poker

New Jersey's legislature passed a law (PDF) regulating online poker and most other major forms of online gambling except sportsbetting. The governor has until March 3 to veto it or let it pass into law. Under the law Atlantic City casinos will be allowed to host online gambling sites within the city limits and take bets from New Jersey residents 21 years or older. The tax rate on the sites will be 23% of gross revenue. A serious concern is that New Jersey online poker sites might not have adequate traffic when dividing the state's population of 8.7 million between competing local and overseas sites. Opening accounts and cashing out also look more complex than at current sites, requiring an application and form respectively. A few other notable points in the bill: big losers will be sent statements of their losses; and cashouts must be sent within three days.

The law prohibits neither gambling on sites hosted outside New Jersey nor providing such services (although New Jersey could misrepresent the letter of the law to impede overseas sites in the manner the federal government has done). The law defines internet wagering as taking place where the servers are located in Atlantic City, which is a significant legal boon to overseas sites since they argue that no gambling is taking place in the United States when people play on their sites.

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