The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has unveiled a list of operators that have been permitted to go live during the US state’s five-day ‘soft launch’ trial period of online gambling, but early problems have been reported by some users.
The trial went live at 6pm EST on November 21 with a total of 17 websites in operation.
Online gaming operator bwin.party and its licensed gaming operator partner, the Borgata Hotel & Spa, went live with three websites in the form of Borgatacasino.com, Borgatapoker.com and NJ.Partypoker.com.
In addition, land-based gaming operator Caesars Interactive Entertainment and betting company 888 Holdings have launched five websites: HarrahsCasino.com, WSOP.com, US.888.com, US.888poker.com and US.888casino.com.
Caesars also went live with CaesarsCasino.com through its partnership with online poker and casino provider, Amaya Gaming.
Elsewhere, Golden Nugget Atlantic City and online casino games and solutions firm Bally Technologies have gone live with GoldenNuggetCasino.com, GoldenNuggetPoker.com, NJ-casino.goldennuggetcasino.com and NJ-poker.goldennuggetcasino.com.
The Tropicana Casino and Resort, along with partner casino and bingo operator Gameseys, have launched the Tropicanacasino.com and Virgincasino.com websites.
The Trump Plaza Hotel and its partner betting exchange, casino and sportsbook operator Betfair have launched Betfaircasino.com, while the Trump Taj Mahal and Ultimate Gaming have been given the go-ahead to launch Ucasino.com.
Despite having been live for less than 24 hours, users have already reported various glitches with the websites, according to the Press of Atlantic City news service.
Users cited issues such as error messages telling them they were not located in the state despite being well inside New Jersey borders as well as delays when trying to load money into accounts. Some websites also did not load up.
Several banks have also already confirmed that they will not authorise gambling transactions, despite New Jersey’s law allowing online gambling.
Regulators have acknowledged that there may be teething issues with the new system as both operators and customers come to terms with online gambling.
As reported by iGaming Business yesterday (Thursday) David Rebuck, the director of New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, has pledged that new standard in monitoring gambling will be upheld throughout the course of the trial.
Operators will now work with regulators to ensure that issues are resolved ahead of the full service launch, which is expected to go ahead on November 26 after the conclusion of the five-day trial period.
