New Jersey regulator spoke out on launch of online gaming

That said, Golden Nugget was the lone casino operator basically put on “probation” to remain in “restricted play testing while continuing to engage in upgrades to their systems.” Rebuck said.

A Golden Nugget spokeswoman said the company “was going to wait approximately a week to launch its internet gaming site. After the four day soft launch testing period, “We determined that it was important to improve the customer experience,” said the Company’s Vice President of Internet Gaming Operations Thomas Winter. “There is nothing more important to the Golden Nugget than our player satisfaction. Being among the first to launch our online gaming site is not what is important to us. It is more important to be among the best.”

Rebuck said it was “almost incredible” that he feels compelled to reference the constant comparisons of Obamacare issues to the online gaming launch. “There are so many distinctions. This is an entertainment function, not a core life responsibility.”

Rebuck added that the companies that found out about the state’s higher standards than for some horse racing or online lottery betting elsewhere “at times probably disagreed with our approach” but he’s not willing to put the state “at risk” of out-of-state people getting into the system. “We need to be continually vigilant,” he said. Casinos were given official state maps for this purpose. “I fully expect for somebody to find a loophole, and it’s up to us to close it. Someone would have to commit a criminal act or strong hacking to get into our system.”

Rebuck has seen pinpoint maps of signups all over the state, and said heavy concentrations as expected near New York City and Philadelphia but also interest all over. Said Caesars, with WSOP.com, “ecstatic” about their signup rate – including in key cities like Hoboken which could be vulnerable to gelocation denials.

Last he saw, Rebuck said 365 casino games had been submitted, with 240 approvals. The rest were rejected or returned for “corrective action.” No specific “sector” such as baccarat, for example, was rejected – just a variety of specific games. Resubmissions can resume on Saturday.