NJ Poker Players Gear Up to Join Nevada and Delaware

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced on Friday that the Garden State will be joining Nevada and Delaware in a shared online poker liquidity compact, which will allow NJ players to compete against players from those states.

Delaware and Nevada have enjoyed a shared poker liquidity compact since 2015, so it’s pretty big news that New Jersey will be joining them. As of now, these are the only three states that have legalized online gambling, and a larger shared player pool could provide more incentive for other states to take the plunge as well.

In the Nick of Time

While talks of New Jersey joining the two other states have been going on for the better part of this year, Christie’s announcement is especially timely - it followed the NJDGE release (New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement) of September’s online gambling revenue haul, which topped $20 million for the seventh straight month in a row. However, while overall revenue is on the rise, online poker has been steadily falling. Christie’s plan might be the breakthrough New Jersey needs to get its online poker industry on par with its online casinos.

Bad News for Bad Actors

Not all of New Jersey’s online casinos will benefit from this promising agreement; while some will be able to join and expand their online player pool and offer bigger prizes, others will be banned from the state of Nevada due to a “bad actor” clause which the state enforces. The “bad actor” clause is meant to punish operators who violated the UIGEA ruling of 2006, which banned internet gambling in the US.

When Can We Expect Shared Liquidity to Start?

The bottom line is, no one is quite sure. It could take months until all of the technicalities are sorted out and the pools are actually able to be merged. Still, the fact that Christie has committed to doing so bodes well for New Jersey’s online poker industry, and will probably give Nevada and Delaware a boost as well.