N.J. Online Gambling Bill passes by wide margin

The New Jersey legislature has passed the bill to legalize online gambling, and by a wide margin. It is expected to add over $300 million in revenue to the state’s coffers, and for that reason, among others, it gained overwhelming support.

The bill passed by a margin of 63-11 in the Assembly. It had already passed the Senate by a 35-2 margin.

The feeling is that since there was such tremendous bi-partisan backing for the measure, with both Republicans and Democrats getting so solidly behind it, that there would be very little difficulty with getting a signature from the desk of Governor Chris Christie.

Harrah’s has reportedly been the only party that has offered a lot of opposition to the bill, and that is because they were sure that a similar bill would be passed on the federal level this year (Barney Frank’s bill), and it wasn’t. Most observers figured that Harrah’s was simply protecting their own interests as a company that was headquartered in Nevada.

Companies which are located offshore can become involved in the internet gambling industry in the United States, as long as they partner up in some way with a brick-and-mortar enterprise. This is the sticking point, as it remains to be seen whether companies with established land-based operations will form alliances with companies that have heretofore only done business via the internet.