New Jersey is proposing new rules to let its licensed online gambling operators pay celebrities to play online poker against the unwashed masses of non-celebrity Garden State residents.
On Thursday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) released a series of proposed amendments to its regulations governing online gambling operations. Among these proposals is a plan that would allow state-licensed poker sites to hire “celebrity or other players” to play on their sites “for advertising or publicity purposes.”
The proposal, for which public comments will be accepted through Feb. 5, 2016, stipulates that poker sites would be allowed to fund the celebrity players’ accounts “in whole or in part,” effectively giving the celebs a free roll against the site’s rank and file.
Should the site’s deal with a celebrity player require that he/she forego the right to keep any winnings generated via these sponsored activities, the sites would be required to include the winnings in their regular monthly revenue report to the DGE.
A separate proposal would allow players who have registered with a New Jersey-licensed online gambling operator to use their online gambling account to fund purchases on free-to-play games played via social networks or mobile apps. Operators would be required to provide “clear and conspicuous notice on the initial screen of any social game” spelling out that the DGE doesn’t regulate such games.
Finally, a third proposal would relax restrictions on where a licensed online gambling operator can base its servers. At present, operators are required to host their servers in a secure facility within the confines of an Atlantic City casino authorized to conduct online gambling operations. The amendment would allow servers to be located at a separate off-premise facility, provided that facility is “under the complete control” of the casino licensee or its online gambling partner.
This change would similarly apply to backup server equipment. However, these backup systems would also be permitted to be stored outside Atlantic City, provided the gear remains within the state of New Jersey and is used strictly for backup purposes and not to conduct online or mobile gaming.
