The Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa owned by Boyd Gaming and MGM has become the proud owner of the first online gaming permit to be issued in the state of New Jersey.
After becoming, in February 2013, the 3rd state in the country to make online gambling legal, following Nevada and Delaware, New Jersey expects online gaming within the state to go live for players sometime in November of this year, likely on November 26, after a trial period to ensure everything runs smoothly.
The Borgata is one of a dozen hotels and casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, currently the only casinos in the state that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement are permitted to launch online gambling sites. Other casinos looking to get into the game themselves include Caesars Entertainment, Trump Entertainment Resorts, The Golden Nugget, and the Tropicana Casino and Resort. Another, Resorts Hotel, looks to be teamed up with Poker Stars to offer an intrastate version of that site’s offerings to its customers who reside in New Jersey. The Borgata, meanwhile, is teamed up with Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, owners of the Bwin Casino Poker sites and the Party Casino Poker sites.
Analysts estimate New Jersey’s online gambling revenue will be around $500 million to $1 billion annually, compared with their estimates for Nevada’s, which is only $50 million to $250 million.
The first online gaming site to go live in the country occurred in Nevada, with UltimatePoker.com, offered by Station Casinos.