Online gambling in New Jersey welcomed a new site to its regime this week as Pala Interactive is now in soft launch mode.
Operating in conjunction with a partnership brokered with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, PalaCasino.com is currently beta testing its product and is looking for New Jersey players to participate. There is bonus cash involved.
Players who deposit $50 and make the required number of bets daily will see bonus money credited to their accounts. In addition, their deposited money may be refunded as long as an online survey is also completed.
Pala Interactive is operated by the Pala Band of Mission Indians and the soft launch made history in that it’s the first gambling website in a regulated state to be hosted by an Indian tribe. It certainly won’t be the last, as native Americans have their fingerprints all over land-based legalized gambling and will be included in online gaming as well.
That is highly evident in California where that state’s powerful Indian tribes have been the main reason why Internet poker legislation has been stymied thus far. The tribes cannot decide how to slice the revenue pie. Incidentally, the Pala tribe is based in California.
The beta test in New Jersey is being conducted under a limited time frame. The site will be accepting wagers for 14 hours today beginning at 10:00 a.m. and 12 hours tomorrow and Friday with a noon starting time.
The soft launch does not include a poker room at this time, but that option is on the way. A glimpse at the website reveals that PalaPoker – New Jersey’s newest legal & licensed online poker site – Coming Soon.
Regulated online poker and gambling in New Jersey marks its one-year birthday this month. The first year has been fraught with a number of problems that include financial institutions failing to approve credit card deposits, geolocation issues regarding whether or not players attempting to log on are within New Jersey borders, and decreasing revenue totals.
But those troubles have been improving and it must be remembered that legalized Internet gambling under a state-by-state format is in its infancy. Those issues perhaps should have been expected.
Dismal revenue numbers is a given considering there is no room for growth when the player pool is restricted by operating on an intrastate scheme. New Jersey officials should be rushing to hook up with Nevada and Delaware in the Multi State Internet Gaming Agreement that was created in February but has yet to be put into effect.
The Pala Casino soft launch may be approved for a hard launch as early as next week. State gaming regulators are carefully monitoring the beta test and will make a decision as to when to give the OK to end the test phase.
