New Jersey has done it, they have been the first US state to pull off a new bill for the regulation and licensing of online poker; possibly even other online gambling activities at a later date. Governor Chris Christie, has 45 days from the 10^th January 2011 to get this new poker bill signed into law. It is up to him to take a public stance on this issue which he has not done so far, however, if no action is taken, the bill is not returned for changes at legislature level, and if it is not vetoed (which it should not be, otherwise why was it voted in), it automatically will become law.

Protagonists of the new New Jersey online gambling bill would like Christie to take a public stand on the bill, but so far he has only consented to a “commitment to improve New Jersey revenue streams”. Loosely speaking we could interpret that he also includes the online poker bill in his priorities, and at the very least not to veto it. The NJ State Senate passed the bill on a vote of 29-5 in November, and on the 10^th January the vote for legislation was 63 – 11. One can therefore assume that during the Christmas and New Year break, some serious “Pro-Poker” lobbying has been taking place.

All being well, and if no alternative date is specified in the final version of the bill, it will be passed into law – on of all days, the 4^th July 2011?! What a 4^th of July that will be for the online poker fraternity! The 4^th July in the US is their annual Independence Day – will it become Independence Day for online poker operators and players too?

At this juncture the bill only includes poker, but it is certainly a step in the right direction and a foot in the door for other online gambling operators to lobby for their sector of the industry. If NJ gets it right and other US States see the bill working well; generating income, creating jobs and protecting the public and operators at the same time – time can only tell how fast the idea will catch alight.

It remains to be seen how a limited market in an Internet business sector will in fact be of much value. We have to bear in mind that internet business is generally so successful because it is business without borders. In the instance of the NJ online poker bill, the impact is going to be very different as it encourages players to take part, but they may only play against one-another within the confines of the state. Some operators fear that PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker will respond to this walled-in online poker, by pulling out of the state as they did recently in Washington. This is no great shakes to them per-se, they simply open up to more overseas markets. They are international brands and obviously don’t cow-tow to UIGEA or online poker with “borders”! At this stage legislation on the federal level has not been successful at all.