Online gambling in New Jersey will be limited to eight hours per day on the first two days of the initial five-day trial period, according to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). The invitation-only test period that precedes the market’s official launch on Nov. 26 will only permit real-money online wagering between the hours of 6pm and 2am on Nov. 21 and 22, according to DGE spokesperson Lisa Spengler. That window widens on Nov. 23 to between 8am and midnight, finally extending around the clock on Nov. 24 and 25.
Spengler told the Press of Atlantic City that the trial period could be extended beyond Nov. 25 if serious problems with the online companies’ systems are identified. Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior, whose company received its online gambling transactional waiver last Friday (8), said the DGE had capped the number of concurrent online players allowed on Ultimate’s Ucasino.com site at 500 for the duration of the trial period. Ultimate Gaming has partnered with Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino for their New Jersey online adventure.
The DGE also issued an advisory bulletin detailing limits on the types of promotional offers the New Jersey-licensed sites can offer players. Promotions currently available via Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar casinos will also be acceptable online. Standard online deposit bonuses with rollover requirements will also be allowed, but not until “at least thirty days” after the official launch of the state’s online gambling market – just in time to spend all that money you got for Christmas – and even then, only if the operator can “demonstrate the ability to generate accurate revenue reports.”
Players will be able to opt out of bonus programs prior to attaining the necessary play-through level, but in doing so, must surrender any matched funds or winnings generated via wagers using the bonus funds. Similarly, operators can’t restrict activity relating to players’ original deposits if players opt out of a bonus program ahead of time. Such scenarios may seem staggeringly obvious, but with online gambling still a brave new world for US regulators, the obvious needs spelling out, just in case.
