Great Start to The Week in The Garden State

The New Jersey Online Gambling Bill looks set to be back on the desk of Governor Chris Christie by the end of this week after getting the required amount of votes in assembly. The bill is now passed to the Senate for the (hopefully) final sign off on Thursday and sponsor Ray Lesniak is in confident mood, stating "We're all teed up and ready to get approval in the Senate Thursday, it will be voted on and it will pass for sure". We were in a similar position back in January 2011 when the bill passed Assembly only to be rejected by Christie, however amendments have been made and many onlookers feel that it would be impossible for him to veto it this time round. With the Federal bill seemingly dead in the water at the moment, all eyes are on New Jersey and the outcome as an indicator of the future of online gambling in the US. With Poker Stars in the mix looking to purchase a land based casino in Atlantic City it appears that NJ is looking to take the lead in modernizing US gambling and Mr Lesniak is more than behind the potential Stars move, welcoming the investment of the worlds largest online poker site to the Garden State. Assemblyman John Burzichelli who sponsored the bill stated in no uncertain terms the need for New Jersey to push this bill through saying "We must position News Jerseys' gaming industry to thrive in the 21st Century, and that involves authorizing a legally sound internet gaming law". With Nevada and Delaware the only other states that have approved online poker, albeit still working on the framework, New Jersey is looking to blaze a trail and take the bull by the horns on this issue.