New Jersey Tries To Pass Legal Online Poker
While Congress is in a tizzy about all these poker bills and how to make both sides agree tthat legal U.S. poker is enough of a priority to choose one and make it law already, at least one state is taking matters into its own hands (and it’s not California).
It’s New Jersey, the same state that just passed medical marijuana is now trying to pass its own law to make online poker available to its residents.
The bill, which was introduced by New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak, would license Atlantic City casino to operate online gambling sites, including online poker and online casino games, to its residents. Lesniak cites over 50,000 New Jersey residents who play online poker, and as everyone else on the pro side of this argument keeps pointing out, could provide a humongous revenue stream for the state, what the senator puts at about $100 million per year.
California is still embroiled in head-to-head battles between different Indian tribal gaming commissions about whether or not to allow intrastate online poker and other online gambling within the state. Intra-state means that only state residents would be permitted to play on the state-licensed sites.
The timing of the New Jersey is no accident or mere coincidence either. The bill comes at a time when Atlantic City casino have been hit with the worst year they’ve hand since 1997. The bill is one of the first in the whole country to explicitly call for the legalization and regulation of online poker within a single state’s boundaries.
