New Jersey will now await a referendum in November after Governor Chris Christie surprisingly vetoed a bill to modernize the State’s gambling regulation.
New Jersey has long been acknowledged as the State best equipped to pioneer a regulated iGaming industry in the US, with its proximity to New York and the financial markets and a technological infrastructure that would position it as the “Silicon Valley” of online gambling.
However, Iowa could now steal a march on New Jersey’s ability to gain ‘first mover advantage’ by becoming the first US State to regulate Intra-State online gambling activity should the ‘Senate File 1165’ online poker Bill pass both Senate and House approval.
According to a report in the Des Moines Register, an approximate 150,000 Iowans are playing online poker illegally, accounting for upwards of US $30 million in potential taxes that the state is currently forfeiting.
Iowa has been seen as the second most-likely state to advance its online gambling regulations after New Jersey, with California and Florida still a long way off formulating realistic support and regulation. However, it now appears in pole position to lead the US into a new dawn of iGaming regulation.