Online gambling issues persist into second week of web betting in New Jersey

Steve Callender, the general manager at the Tropicana Atlantic City, said that about 75 percent of people who have tried to play on the resort’s online gaming website — TropicanaCasino.com — have been denied because the system could not verify they were in New Jersey. “I would say a quarter are getting on,” Callender said yesterday, noting there’s a positive side to that: “We don’t have a situation where people who are outside the state are getting on.”

Regulators with the state Division of Gaming Enforcement have made it clear that casinos must ensure all players are physically located in the Garden State, using multiple location techniques. That means, for example, matching a computer’s internet address with a player’s cell phone location.

Some users have been legitimately rejected, with people in more than 25 different states trying to play. Others who have been rejected, though, are actually located in New Jersey and expressed frustration with the process.

But executives say that — slowly — more people are being able to get on and play. That’s in part because of technology changes, but mostly because players are having success working with customer service representatives. “Every day gets a little less stressful,” said Seth Palansky, a spokesman for Caesars Interactive Entertainment.

Many users have encountered trouble making deposits into accounts at the six casinos the state has authorized to offer internet betting, executives and regulators say. Some major banks — as well as American Express and PayPal — refuse to process online gambling transactions.

Gaming executives say they have been actively trying to convince those institutions there would be no legal risk to doing so, but they concede that it will take months or more. “I think it’s just because it was illegal for a long time and now it’s legal,” Callender said.

Gaming regulators say that, with more 50,000 accounts created since online gaming began last month, they have received no complaints from players about internet gaming performance. “The division performs a thorough regulatory review and investigation of all matters pertaining to the integrity of casino operations, both for land-based and internet game play,” said Lisa Spengler, a spokeswoman for the Division of Gaming Enforcement. “If we receive a patron complaint which a casino cannot resolve, we would examine the issue.”