Land Casinos Keep Online Options Open

August 12, 2010 | News Category: Gaming Law

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With online casino legislation beginning to move forward in the United States Congress, there are those that want to ensure that they do not miss out, and get left behind.

According to the Atlantic City Weekly last week, it was reported that the land based casino operators in New Jersey are amongst those that want to make sure that they have all their bases covered. It seems that the land based gambling operators have been in contact with online gambling software providers.

At this time, the online gambling software provider (or providers) has not yet been identified, however it is clear that the New Jersey land based gambling operators are in touch with them about online gambling in order to be sure that they are ready for any changes that take place in the online gambling market as far as legalization and regulation are concerned.

The report that appeared in the Atlantic City Weekly was not about this issue specifically, but was concerning evidence that was given to the New Jersey Legislative Summit. The evidence was regarding the New Jersey land based gambling industry, and was given by Mark Juliano, who is the president of the New Jersey Casino Association.

In revealing that land based casino operators in Atlantic City are preparing themselves for the eventuality of legalized Internet gambling, Juliano said: "We are all working with software programs to provide a mode for online poker rooms and casino games and we're obviously watching the legislation on this very carefully."

The land based casino operators are trying to be realistic about the fact that it is most likely that online gambling will become legal one way or another, and they most certainly want a piece of that pie when it comes around, since the struggling land based casinos will most likely struggle even more when online gambling is legalized and regulated in the United States.

Juliano noted: "We do think that it is inevitable that it will pass at some point and we're just waiting for some legislative direction."

The line of questioning which revealed this information was regarding the moves that have been taken in the New Jersey state legislature that would allow the state to be the first US state to have intra-state online gambling.

Although New Jersey may go the route of legalizing intra-state online gambling, Juliano made a point of emphasizing that the New Jersey Casino Association would prefer it if the online casino and online poker legislation could take place at a federal level, rather than only on a state level.