Players in New Jersey can now enjoy games from Williams Interactive, following the launch of gaming sites powered by the Gamesys platform. 

Williams Interactive’s library of Vegas-style slot games are now available to New Jersey players in Virgin Casino and Tropicana Atlantic City Online. Currently, the available selection includes such titles as Gold Fish and Super Jackpot Party, with further games like the popular Zeus III to be added in the following months. 

“With a library of content that has long been among the most popular on casino floors throughout the US and Canada, providing this authentic casino content library online for New Jersey players for the first time is a proud accomplishment for Williams Interactive,” said Orrin J. Edidin. 

Santa Ysabel Interactive, an enterprise of the Santa Ysabel Tribal Development Corporation, has launched the first regulated tribal online poker website in California.

Santa Ysabel Interactive has launched PrivateTable.com from the Tribe’s reservation east of San Diego. The website is accessible to adults from California and is supposed to be a legal alternative to unregulated illegal gambling websites. 

As part of the launch, Santa Ysabel Interactive has teamed up with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission to establish an inter-jurisdictional agreement in order to host a portion of Santa Ysabel’s interactive gaming structure in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.

“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to expanding upon the lipay Nation of Santa Ysabel’s successful track record in the regulated gaming industry. The Gaming Commission has applied its years of experience to ensure the integrity of the games when designing the framework for Santa Ysabel Interactive’s ipoker website,” said Dave Vialpando, spokesperson for Santa Ysabel Interactive. 

The Santa Ysabel Gaming Commission regulatory structure is more stringent than the regulatory requirements in both of the proposed California igaming legislative proposals currently under consideration.

“The Tribe supports the effort by the Legislature to enact interactive gambling legislation in the State, but has decided to rely on the tribal sovereignty and the provisions of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) offer ipoker from the Tribe’s reservation. Santa Ysabel Interactive currently has no plans to offer Internet-based slot machines or banked-games through its website, PrivateTable.com, but will consider offering other gaming consistent with IGRA,” added Vialpando. 

Since the last week launch of privetable.com, a real money online poker site in California, many observer have questions its legality. 

With a state online gambling bill stalling each time it is presented the Iipay Nation have taken matters into their own hands and gone for it. California is well known to be the jewel in the US online gambling sector crown with many operators wanting to get in to the state which has a population of over 38 million residents.

Most recently the attorney representing the tribe Martin Owens, came out and stated just exactly why the online poker site is legal in the state.

“If an Indian tribe, which is (federally recognized) and has land of its own wants to offer Class 2 gaming, they don’t have to consult state authority at all,” Owens said. “They can go directly to the feds.”

“There are some administrative requirements,” Owens added. “They have to do a proper job administering it. But once it’s arranged, they can offer Class 2 Gaming.”

“The state has to have a compact with the tribe to offer Class 3 gaming,” Owens said.

Online poker comes under those categories so under state law the tribe is totally operating legally. However this will most likely not stop the other tribes and interested parties trying to shut it down as they fear they have lost out in the race to take a piece of the huge online poker business in California.

Land casino Resorts Atlantic City has published a “coming soon” website at resortscasino.com.

The site is currently garnering emails from interested parties, a typical tactic when an online casino operation is nearing launch phase.

Resorts Atlantic City is an interesting company that has been in talks with Pokerstars as that company seeks a suitable land casino partner to open the door for it to enter the New Jersey market, subject to the licensing approval of the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement, which is currently holding an application.

More recently, online gambling groups NYX Gaming Group Ltd. & Sportech plc announced a joint venture titled SNG Interactive with the objective - subject to licensing approval - of launching an online casino operation with Resorts in New Jersey (see previous reports).

That triggered speculation that Pokerstars, now under the new ownership of the Amaya Group, may be angling to become the online poker arm of the SNG-Resorts initiative....but again, that would be contingent on licensing approval from the DGE, which has reportedly held discussions with Amaya.

Resorts Atlantic City is owned by the Bailey family, which in 2012 turned over operational control of the land casino to Mohegan Gaming Advisors, which operates casinos in several northeastern US states.

The governors of Nevada and Delaware have signed a deal to create an interstate online gaming partnership. 

The Multi-State Internet Gambling Agreement has been signed by governors Brian Sandoval and Jack Markell. The two governors believe that the partnership will increase the pool of potential players, liquidity and revenue for the states. 

This deal does not change any rules about player location or verification but will have players from the two states playing together on the same virtual poker tables, improving the pool potential and the gaming experience.

Chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission believes online gambling legislation should be put on hold for now. 

At a meeting of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission Stephen Crosby, the chair of the body, suggested that online gambling legislation should be put on hold until the completion of land casino licensing process. This is because of concerns that online gambling may affect the state lottery and plans for land casino licensing. 

According to Crosby, land casino operators will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Massachusetts and “it is only appropriate that they be at the table when we figure out what to do with Internet gaming.” 

Additionally, State Senate Majority Leader Stanley Rosenberg, considering present and potential income from the state lottery and land gambling, said lawmakers need to watch out not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg by introducing online gambling. 

Nevada Senator Harry Reid could be investigated in corruption scandal.

Davis Country District Attorney Troy Rawlings and Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill are claiming there’s evidence in the investigation related to suspect financial contributions where Sen. Harry Reid’s name comes up. The attorneys believe that the Department of Justice should investigate the allegations of misconduct of federal officials and campaign contributions. 

“There could possibly be an innocent explanation for the evidence that has cropped up, but there could also be a more sinister explanation,” said Gill. 

Both Rawlings and Gill said that the Department of Justice refused to take on the investigation in 2013, even though the allegations are considered to be very serious by the local officials. 

The allegations that they claim should be reviewed concern Harry Reid and a fundraising event in 2010 at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. Reid promised the introduction of online poker legislation for Nevada, but he withdrew the bill two months after being re-elected, claiming there was not enough support at the time. 

Sheldon Adelson, the boss of Last Vegas Sands is taking a strong influence in Congress and is ready to spend any amount to stop the spread of online gambling in the US.

Next week republican Senators Jason Chaffetz and Lindsey Graham will introduce new bills in Congress, called the companions bill, which aim to add restrictions on interstate and international online gambling. 

If passed, it would remove any possibility of interstate compacts and would restrict states to operate only within their borders. This would also stop any attempts to link players from various states to international online gambling pools. The bill could prove to be a fatal blow for the expansion of online gambling in the US. Adelson is trying to pressure congress with donation to election fights, hoping to bring the bill into reality. 

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance said: “There’s no doubt that these bills are being pushed at the behest of Sheldon Adelson.”

Last year, Adelson launched the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling and has vowed to “spend whatever it takes” to stop any spread of online gambling in the US. In his opinion, internet gambling is “a societal train wreck waiting to happen.” The Coalition added: “We support and applaud all efforts to restore the long-standing interpretation that the Wire Act prohibits Internet gambling, it’s common sense that putting a virtual casino in the pocket of every American with a smartphone is bad public policy.”

New Jersey Senate Panel has approved a bill that will allow foreign online gambling operators to base their operations in the state.

After receiving a license and partnering with an existing Atlantic City casino, operators could offer gambling, including online poker, in jurisdiction where it’s legal. 

“This could help make New Jersey the leader in online gaming, across the country and around the world. We could be the Silicon Valley for high-tech gaming,” said Senator Ray Lesniak who introduced the measure. 

Offered products would be subject to a 15% tax rate, minus any taxes given to other countries for their resident’s play.

According to John Pappas, executive director of Poker Players Alliance, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham may decide to introduce the bill backed by Sheldon Adelson that would ban all forms of Internet gambling. 

Similar information is coming from Politico.com, which reports that Graham could introduce the bill this week. It is possible that he can add co-sponsors to make a bigger impact or wait to pair it with the House bill that Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz plans to introduce Wednesday. 

"I think they'd like to come out with a big splash on this bill. We'll have to see what kind of support they're able to gather. I'm not aware of who he has on board,” said Pappas.

Pappas pointed out that Darryl Nirenberg, a lobbying for Las Vegas Sands, was noted as the author of an early draft of the House bill. 

The bills are strongly opposed by poker players from Poker Players Alliance and U.S. casino as they are in favor of Internet gambling through the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection. 

"Banning all online gaming nationwide, as this bill effectively does, would put American consumers at serious risk. This type of sweeping ban would only ensure that the current overseas black market continues to thrive, forcing online gaming further into the shadows where there are no consumer protections. It is impossible to stand in the way of the Internet; instead, we should embrace and shape these new technologies in a way that is safe for consumers,” said former Congressman Mary Bono, co-chair of the coalition. 

It’s safe to expect a strong opposition from lotteries and legislators from states that want to legalize online gaming, including the three states that are already offer such services – Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey. 

"The way it's written now, no question. We have grave concerns about this legislation and we would share them with our senators,” told TheHill.com Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery. 

"Once the bill is introduced, I think we'll see a lot of opposition coming from other places like lottery circles. Hopefully the bill will bring a lot more people to the fight, so it's not just the PPA trying to win these battles,” said Pappas.