It’s not just Obamacare that’s having Web site glitches in its launch. The same goes for New Jersey‘s ‘Net-betting system. Test player Joseph Brennen attempted logging in from within Atlantic City but kept getting error messages. “It’s frustrating knowing you’re in the jurisdiction and you can’t get anywhere,” he told The Associated Press. The system’s digital fencing didn’t think he was in the state. (What an irony: Atlantic City-based servers not being able to service Atlantic City.) Solution? Drive to a highway plaza five miles inland and play from there. But then he drove 10 further inland and again encountered log-in problems. Similar nightmares plagued Ocean Township resident Tina Gonzalez, who was also exiled by the online fence. However, players from 23 other states who tried to make an end-run around the fences got nabbed.
Although every casino in Atlantic City can offer as many as five Web sites, the seven approved casinos are starting with two apiece. (Resorts International‘s partnership with PokerStars didn’t make the cut in time for the test launch.) Since the purpose of the test is, among other things, to ensure that underage players can’t get in, I suppose the casinos are going to have to find some kiddies in order to make sure that the age-verification applications are working.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D), meanwhile, wants to take the experiment to a whole ‘nother level. He proposes allowing offshore Internet casinos to host offshore play in Atlantic City — subject to Garden State regulation. I’m not sure that the prospect of running up against New Jersey’s famously tough casino-oversight bodies would hold much appeal for someone based in Gibraltar or Costa Rica. And … “thousands of jobs”? I just don’t see it.
Halfway across the country, Illinois is cracking down on video-gambling operators. Unsavory characters and unlicensed companies will be blacklisted. 
Thanks to the proliferation of slot routes in the Land of Lincoln, they’re outgrossing the state’s casinos. The trade is so lucrative that unlicensed middleman are cutting deals with bars, then turning around and selling those rights to legitimate slot dealers at a markup. Through oversight or design, lawmakers left a loophole in the enabling legislation that makes this viable. One would think that existing deals would be grandfathered but the Illinois Gaming Board is reserving judgment on that matter.
“Wide-area progressives” could get a whole new meaning, now that the Nevada Gaming Commission has approved interstate, pooled jackpots. Presently, this brave new world of slot play only exists in theory. New Jersey is exploring the idea, as are three other states, but nobody has taken it this far yet. Casino revenues would be taxed on a strictly intrastate basis. The idea is not only to create bigger, Powerball-sized jackpots, but to enlarge the player pool and increase the amounts wagered.
“[T]he ultimate impact is minimal,” opined Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. “That said, anything that has the potential to juice regional slot 
trends and equipment manufacturers [progressive] products is likely to be viewed as encouraging in the current environment.” He foresees the first interstate alliance happening at the middle of next year. “We won’t feign to have a true sense of the impact on play levels larger jackpots will create, but in the lottery industry, it has been significant,” Santarelli wrote. “It’s also worth noting however that this cross state progressive program has been in place at Native American casinos for some time and while results have been marginally better, these facilities tend to have better foot traffic as well, so the difference stemming from this initiative is difficult to decipher.”
International Game Technology will get a 10% lift, Santarelli predicts. But co-sponsor Bally Technologies, with its smaller installed base, won’t see the same “buzz.”
