ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – The Golden Nugget Atlantic City was excluded from the casinos beginning a test of Internet gambling Thursday night in New Jersey, but it said it hoped to get the go-ahead to join the others later Thursday or Friday.
The state Division of Gaming Enforcement approved six of the seven Internet gambling permit holders whose systems passed rigorous pre-launch testing.
The state cleared 13 gambling websites for play starting Thursday night. They are run by the Borgata, Trump Plaza, the Taj Mahal, Tropicana, Bally’s and Caesars.
Spokeswoman Lisa Spengler said the gambling enforcement division was continuing to work with the Golden Nugget on its systems, but could not estimate when the casino might be approved. If and when it is, it will be required to conduct a test period for five full days after getting the go-ahead from state regulators – even if the rest of the casinos have begun full statewide play.
“The soft opening will be used to demonstrate to the division that all systems perform as required under the stress of live gaming and that operational and revenue reporting controls are effective,” said its director, David Rebuck. “Staff will continually assess the progress of each platform provider before allowing them to open gaming to the general public on Nov. 26.”
The state cleared 13 gambling websites for play starting Thursday night. They are run by the Borgata, Trump Plaza, the Taj Mahal, Tropicana, Bally’s and Caesars.
New Jersey is the third state in the nation to offer online gambling, after Nevada and Delaware.
If all goes well with the five-day test, Internet gambling will be available to anyone within New Jersey’s borders starting Tuesday.
The following web sites were approved for gamblers invited by the casinos to test: www.Borgatacasino.com, www.Borgatapoker.com, www.NJ.Partypoker.com, www.HarrahsCasino.com, www.WSOP.com, us.888.com, us.888poker.com, us.888casino.com, www.CaesarsCasino.com, www.tropicanacasino.com, www.virgincasino.com, www.betfaircasino.com and www.ucasino.com.
___
Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
