Positives From New Jersey Online Gambling Veto

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Now that the dust has settled on the conditional veto of New Jersey governor Chris Christie on the online gambling legalization bill, positives are beginning to emerge. There have been favorable comments from analysts and online gambling advocacy associations like the Poker Player Alliance, and the stock prices of publicly quoted online gambling companies in Europe and the United States have soared. The positives revolve around the governor’s supportive attitude to online gambling and the easy to meet conditions that he has set for his signing the bill into law.

The conditional veto came through a 31-page statement that spelt out what he wants in the revised bill. The 10-year trial period and 15% tax rate have been accepted by Senator Lesniak, the prime mover of the bill, who has already set a date of March 18 for completing the amendments. The analysts noted that Governor Christie did not ask for the barring of US and foreign companies with past disputes with the US Department of Justice from partnering with Atlantic City casino companies. This will gladden PokerStars owner Rational Group, which is negotiating the acquisition of the Atlantic Club land casino so that it can get in on the New Jersey online gambling market.

One of the apprehensions running in the online gambling industry was that New Jersey Governor Christie would limit the online gambling vertical to only poker. Thankfully these fears were unfounded and as and when the legalization goes through Atlantic City land casinos will offer online casino and bingo wagering as well. Another provision in the bill allows New Jersey to join up with other states that have legalized online gambling so as to increase liquidity and make the venture more viable. Here Governor Christie has asked for the use of the term “reciprocal agreement” in place of the “interstate compact”. Experts have opined that this might restrict the ability of New Jersey to collaborate with other states. However more clarity on the effect of this would be had in the coming days. Nevada has already legalized online poker and an alliance between the two states is the subject of much discussion.

The surge on the prices of online gambling stocks has not gone unnoticed. Caesars Entertainment, that has casinos in Atlantic City, went up by 38%. The San Francisco based social gaming giant Zynga, that has announced online gambling plans, had its share price boosted by 11%. In Europe Bwin.Party, which already has a partnership with Boyd Gaming in place, witnessed a jump of 23%. 888 Holdings that has a partnership with Caesars experienced an 18% rise. The other companies that registered stock price increases were MGM, Boyd Gaming, Amaya Gaming, William Hill and Betfair.

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