The US state of Delaware has gone live with a full online gambling service following an initial week-long soft launch testing period.
According to the Delaware.newszap.com website, the full service officially went live on November 8 with more than 120 players in the state registered to play.
Lottery officials now expect this number to rise as the full service gathers pace.
The Delaware State Lottery will be responsible for regulating activity in online gambling, as well as acting as a liaison for vendors that handle payment processing.
During the test period, which began on November 1, officials found that players with Visa or debit cards encountered problems when attempting to deposit money, as the banks carrying Visa cards do not have a universal code for online gaming and did not approve transactions.
Mastercard does have a special code for such transfers and was able to approve transactions, according to secretary of finance Tom Cook.
In order to register for online gambling, players must key in their mobile phone to enable verification of their geolocation. Cook said that the state had only encountered minor problems with geolocation verification services during the soft launch.
The state said it is content with progress so far but does not expect online gaming to significantly impact Delaware revenues immediately.
However, Cook said the state could experience an increase in activity and revenues when iGaming moves to mobile phones and tablets devices at the end of 2014. “Social media is going to play a big role in this,” he said.
