Online gaming aficionados expect big changes to occur in 2015!
It’s been just over a year since online gaming was regulated in New Jersey. In late November 2013, Governor Chris Christie made history when he placed his John Hancock on the bill authorizing legal online gaming in the state. Since then, players have been able to wager real money bets on a host of online casino games. To date, the online gaming industry in New Jersey has raked in $124 million in 2014, and while this figure has come in under analysts’ expectations it is a solid start for the industry. Some of the world’s finest casinos in Atlantic City have rolled out their own online casinos to players across the state of New Jersey.
The Challenges Faced by Online Casinos in 2014
Online gaming in New Jersey has been plagued by all sorts of maladies, many of which have had nothing to do with online casinos at all. For example, there were 3 major issues that required attention in the infancy stages of the online casino rollout in New Jersey. These included: payments processing, marketing and geolocation tracking. For the vast majority of players in New Jersey, it took some time for people to know that online gaming was fully legal in the state. All the leading online casinos embarked upon an aggressive marketing strategy to bring the message to the 6.8 million adult Internet users in the state.
During the early rollout of online casinos, players in border areas were inadvertently included/excluded from playing at regulated NJ casinos. The problems were evident in the inaccuracies of the geolocation technology of the time. Various bugs in the software made it difficult to accurately determine the location of players. Since players from New Jersey and nowhere else are allowed to play real money casino games, the technology needed to provide accuracy to within a few feet of a player’s location. Geolocation technology with triangulation can do precisely that.
Another important point that requires further attention is payments processing. At state level, online casinos are legal in NJ, but at federal level they are not. The UIGEA – Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act – expressly prohibits US banks and financial institutions from transferring money to online casinos. As a result, Visa and MasterCard debit/credit cards have varying success rates when it comes to payments processing. Visa is currently running at around 50% while MasterCard is currently running at 70%. PayPal is presently in talks with major online casinos in NJ to try and begin offering another reputable payments solution to players. As the number of payments solutions increases so too will online gaming revenues in 2015.
Features of Top Online Casinos
The gaming selection available at top online casinos such as Caesars Casino mirrors the very best of what Las Vegas and Atlantic City have to offer. Categories include live dealer games, jackpot slots, arcade and scratch, video poker, cards, roulette, slots and hot new attractions. Players get to enjoy the best of Playtech-powered entertainment direct from their PCs, smartphones or tablets. With over 100 games on site, players can easily cash in with the instant play gaming platform – no downloads needed. Rapid & secure withdrawals, virus free gaming and generous promotional offers are the mainstay of the top online casinos. These are the things that online casino players are looking for, and they’re fast becoming the benchmark of what to expect.