New Jersey bill passed today re: online poker

Today (11 Jan 2011), a bill concerning internet gambling passed in the New Jersey State Assembly and is headed to the governor’s office.

The bill would create the first intrastate internet gambling framework in the U.S. and would make it possible for existing land-based casinoes to offer internet versions of their games, including poker.

Although it would result in new revenue for the state and create jobs, it still may not pass because of fear of violating federal law.

People are speculating that sites like pokerstars and FTP might leave NJ like they did in Washington State (where the State Supreme Court upheld a law stating that playing online poker is a Class C felony).

Oh that would be great, these idiot Reps. of ours need to get their head out of there rear end and legalize this poker and start collecting some money.

Unbelievable, I'm going to be so angry if NJ ends up like washington.

i really do hope it gets passed that would be lovely

I hope it passes it would be a big step but i believe i heard that it NJ players can only play with other NJ players which would really suck..Can only play within state playes..

wtf?! I'm in NJ!

im just waiting for a thread that talks about California




Im confused. How come most say that it is a good thing?

If it steps on the toes of the casinos they won't let it pass.. but the idea in nevada at least is that the big players i.e. MGM, Harrahs, etc.. would come in to run the sites...

It's currently not illegal to play on an online site.. the restrictions are against US banks from allowing deposits to them..

So there are some positives about this.. but at the end of the day it's greater regulation on the whole thing.. which I don't think will ultimately be good for players...

They can get around it by getting the feds to give them an exemption. What is done can always be undone.

According to rjeezy you will be allowed to play with yourself.

I don't understand. What is the threat for new jersey here? That full tilt and Pokerstars will be taken from us? Funds seized? Or what? How could you restrict play to be amongst people in the same state?

That is exactly what the bill is. Players in NJ will be allowed to play but anyone outside of NJ can't. If you live in NJ and have an account on FT, PS or whatever, you will breaking the law by playing on those sites. It's going to a very very small site or sites.lol This is not good for NJ or the rest of the USA.

lmaooo

Well i've heard from other threads/forums that other states will follow NJ's lead and there will be a site created for these states to play against each other. (California, Florida, Washington)

Yes that could be but that's a long way down the road. It took NJ 2 years to get this far and the GOV may still veto it or send it back for amendments. Or he could just let it sit. If he lets it sit on his desk, it will become law July 4.

ugh if new jersey gets banned from ftp / stars.

Wow.. This could be good for New Jersey (of which I am a fan) but not so good for Online Poker in general. The more regulated things get, the more they are going to try and squeeze out the online poker sites to make way for local activity. The big casino's are already in AC, and of course are pushing for it.

http://www.openmarket.org/2011/01/11...gambling-bill/

This, among other things

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some good discussion here.

I fear the eventual separation US from all other countries for online poker.

It all comes down to revenue. US lawmakers realize that Americans are losing money to off shore poker sites.

they want more revenue for the states and more jobs.

$$$$$$

That's exactly right atti.. they all want their cut of the pie !
but regulation means freedoms and choices will be removed from some..
It already happened in Washington state.. NJ, NV are on the block.. who's next..

These stupid politicians don't even know what the word "internet" means. They should change the bill to ",,, statenet gambling..."

I predict that California will legalize casino gambling and wipe out Nevada in order to balance the budget.

I live in Virginia. We had about 100 diffrent poker lounges here that were affiliated with several diffrent charitys but now they are all closed because of the governor. Makes me want to move to vegas or ac. Hope this doesn't last for long. How long was the prohibition? Seems like we should be out rallying or something. Free Poker Joe!!

....and they don't care that we know that they don't know, but they don't know that we know that they don't know.

This doesnt seem to be good for any of us living in the US. I still hope to one day be able to deposit and play on sites without restriction as the rest of the world does. To me this is just another way the lawmakers are trying to get people who are in the US. First it was prohibition against alcohol and now this...I will never fully understand the thought process of lawmakers, to me it seems like they are just trying to find a way to get people to do what they want.... thats not part of being "free" in my eyes.

+1

Preach!

I hope it passes, that would be great. Especially since I plan on moving back to New Jersey this year

I think that we should be able to play online for real money if we so choose. It is our money, so we should be able to do with it what we want... without all this BS from the gov't. I'm glad I don't live in Washington state, and looking like NJ also here shortly.

Does Washington have any online poker rooms for residents, or has it just become illegal all around?

I live in Virginia also, but never really find anything about VA and online poker being talked about. When were there about 100 poker lounges here? I remember the ones in Portsmouth, ie.. Victory Poker Lounge, The Poker Palace, Skillz and 1 or 2 others, but Portsmouth District Attorney decided to change his stance on the luck vs skill factor without making a comment about it, which in turn made poker a form of gambling again in Portsmouth..therefore all the charity poker rooms had to close. I thought that was the only city that ever had Charity Poker rooms, or any legal poker room in VA, and thought there were only a handful of them?

Does anyone know the definition to gambling the goverment is using? Its okay for all of us to play the lottery thats paying $1 for a ticket with 6 diff numbers on it for a CHANCE to win millions.If you win then you have to pay a GAMBLING TAX on your winnings most states is atleast 30% isnt that gambling Okay every friday and saturday night in every state in the US you have countless numbers of senior citizens in a bingo hall buying up cards for a Chance to win money and you look close enough at the books you will find the bingo halls are getting a rake off them cards is that gambling no skill required in either game. Poker you have people who buy into tourneys or play ring games for a chance to win money as well BUT using stragtic play figuring up there hand and pot odds reading other players making decisions on there starting hands and betting which does take aot of skill pratice and time to learn and play the game effectivley. Our goverment has its piroities so backwards its unreal since there is a gambling tax except on bingo seems like as far in debt as this country is they would do what they could to gain more revenue.Maybe we all need to get together write 300 letters well write just one print off 300 copies and flood our congressmen and womens offices with letters and do it every month maybe they will get tired of reciving a few million letters every month and finally take a smart action But thats just a idea im open for suggestions

maybe there is some hope,,,but here in Texas our dumb azz governer has said he would veto any kind of live or online gambling.

hey man people dont like gambling, but they cant stop it just like they couldnt stop prohibition, itll always be around so dont worry. theyre will always be a game.

Sounds like they think their citizens are poor players and all the money will be flowing out of state and out of the country to the better players across the oceans.

Late last year they banned on line poker here in Washinigton state classifing it as a class c felony. Some site that I go to have sent me email saying "sorry but you are not allowed here for real money because of the Washington state law". Other sites have not caught up yet but I amsure they will soon. Good luck there where you are at.

There is no specific gambling tax on lottery winnings. Lottery winnings are taxed at the normal federal and state INCOME tax rates. The highest federal tax bracket is 35% and depending on the state it could be additional 0-8%.

People freak out about it all the time, but trust me, all of us would love to have the "problem" of paying 40% in taxes on a $200 Million Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot win.

If you can't live off of $120 Million after taxes, there is something wrong with you.

Texas doesnt have a chance dont really understand all the why thou we are broke in Austin............