New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie confirmed that discussions have taken place regarding sharing an online poker player pool with Nevada.
Christie addressed the topic at a summit held in Atlantic City yesterday, according to a tweet by a LV R-J reporter. The gathering included casino industry executives and state officials who discussed ways in which the the Garden State’s struggling gaming industry can be revitalized.
Though the summit’s focus was likely centered around land-based gaming considering that only seven Atlantic City casinos will remain operating by year’s end, online poker and gambling is now tied into the success (or failure) of that industry. And with action that results in increased revenue clearly needing to be taken following the shutdowns of three New Jersey casinos with two more pending, an alliance with Nevada seems a good place to start.
Nevada already has entered into such an agreement with Delaware, with the launch of that partnership estimated to take place late this year or perhaps in the first quarter of 2015. Should New Jersey also finalize an agreement with the Silver State, it would presumably mean that all three regulated states would share liquidity.
That sharing of player pools across state lines was likely envisioned by each of the three regulated states even before the launches of their respective online gaming regimes. The success of online poker requires players and restricting the available pool to within a state’s borders will never allow for growth.
Growth can only be achieved by allowing access to more and more players. As such, it is hoped that more of the 50 states would be enticed into regulating online poker once a scheme that involves partnerships begins to take effect.
Nevada and Delaware are blazing a new trail, so to speak, with the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement that was created between the two in February. And with Christie confirming that he has spoken to Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval about an interstate partnership, one can speculate that it won’t be long before New Jersey signs on as well.
Looking ahead to the future, it is highly conceivable that such liquidity sharing also includes an international flavor. Allowing states to combine player pools with other countries would enhance regulated poker considerably. A number of European jurisdictions would likely jump at such an opportunity.
However, that scenario remains a long way off. The first steps would be for additional states to climb aboard before the scheme is opened up internationally. But it is encouraging to think of the possibilities of regulated poker for Americans. And those possibilities include regulation spreading to other states, followed by partnerships with other nations that may allow [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com”]online poker in the U.S.[/geolink] to become even better than it had been years ago due to the safeguards afforded by regulation.
