New Jersey begins ‘soft-play’ testing

Jersey has entered a five-day ‘soft-play’ period ahead of a full real-money online gaming launch.

Real-money casino and poker games as well as identity verification, geolocation and payment processing systems will all be tested, with the first ‘soft’ period having taken place between 6pm and 2am on Thursday 21st. The same slot is scheduled for Friday, with the testing building up to 16 and then 24-hour periods as the days pass. A full service is set to launch on 26 November.

Seven casinos representing 17 online brands have gone live with testing, with each site allowed a maximum of 500 players at any one time.

Meanwhile online operators Caesars Interactive Entertainment have been granted New Jersey online gaming licences for two of their Atlantic City casinos: Caesars Atlantic City and Bally’s Atlantic City. The pair had previously been handed transactional waivers to allow them to enter the market ahead of full licensing.

The news leaves five of the city’s 12 land-based casinos without an internet gaming permit, including Resorts Casino, partners of online poker site PokerStars. Two of the others are owned by Caesars, while the remaining two have not yet entered into any online gambling partnerships.

Additionally, Senator Raymond Lesniak has announced plans for a bill which would allow licensed New Jersey operators to serve players in other regulated jurisdictions globally, including sports-betting customers.