Delaware and Nevada to join New Jersey for interstate online poker games

Officials from New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement accept that the multi-state poker agreement could pave the way for adding other states.

First State players have been able to compete online, legally, against players in Nevada for three years, following the adoption of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement in 2014.

Delaware Lottery Director Vernon Kirk thinks bringing New Jersey on board will contribute even more players, bigger jackpots and a better time zone match.

“Delaware has about a million population, Nevada has about 3 million population, and New Jersey has about 9 million. So they become the big kid on the block,” he said.

Kirk notes online gamblers in Delaware will have to create a new account next week, as the state’s casinos switch over to New Jersey’s online gaming platform. Because of this, he does not expect a big bump in revenue immediately, but sees the change as an investment in the long game.

“What we’re doing is laying the foundation for the future of internet gaming. We anticipate Pennsylvania will be joining the ranks pretty soon,” he said. “There’s a lot of other states that are kind of on the brink.”According to Delaware Lottery, it is the fourth largest source of revenue for the state. But Kirk notes that online gaming contributes only a very small portion of this revenue, for now at least.

Kirk says the software developers for the online games are being cautious about the May 1 rollout date, but that he cannot envision a scenario where the inter-state connection does not go live this Tuesday.

Source: delawarepublic.org