GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 35 - June 2016

APCW HALL OF FAME: New Jersey DGE T he overall revenue generated by online poker in New Jersey continues to lag way behind that of slot machines and table games. But that doesn’t diminish the importance of i Poker in New Jersey to the overall stability and future of online gaming in the U.S. Of course, the latest and most compelling de- velopment regarding online poker in the U.S. came in March, when PokerStars made its l ong-awaited reentry to the market. As our guest columnist Christopher Soriano elo- quently points out on page 34 of this issue, PokerStars instantly proved it could bolster New Jersey’s iPoker cache. Yes, the other sites in the state — namely Borgata/PartyPoker NJ — were affected ad- versely and may at some point be overtaken completely by the difficulty of competing with a giant like PokerStars. But in the long run, the return of the world’s largest online poker site and its instant impact are a positive sign — and, hopefully, a harbinger of things to come not just in New Jersey, but in the numerous other states that have long been flirting with iPoker bills. The powers that be in other states that are con- sidering regulating the iGaming industry have taken notice of New Jersey’s continued prog- ress. Since Governor Chris Christie signed the iGaming bill into law in 2013, New Jersey has become Exhibit A for the vast potential of online gaming. It has proven that geolocation services work. It has proven that strict controls can stop underage and problem gamblers from gaining access to sites they shouldn’t have ac- cess to. It’s also shown that there’s a great deal of potential in the industry, as revenues continue to grow. Online gambling revenues increased 33% in 2015, despite an 18% decrease in poker. The game has changed with PokerStars back in the picture, especially if New Jersey can final- ize an interstate agreement for online poker with Nevada and Delaware, the two other states where online poker is regulated. State lawmakers in California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania (and federal lawmak- ers in Congress, for that matter) have to this point kicked the can down the road — collect- ing vast sums of money from lobbyists on both sides of the issue in the process — instead of putting forward good public policy. The bottom line? New Jersey is to be com- mended for advancing the ball on the iGam- ing front. One can only hope other states — or even the federal government — start to repli- cate the New Jersey model instead of finding every plausible reason not to move forward. 72 APCW Hall of Fame