Casino officials involved with New Jersey’s fledgling online gambling business are banking on cell phones and mobile devices to keep revenue growing.
“Mobile applications will play an enormous piece of the puzzle in online wagering, which is why we are so positive and see so much upside in months ahead,” Joe Lupo, senior vice president of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa told the Associated Press.
The Borgata—the early leader in New Jersey’s online market—has begun offering apps for android cellphones on 3G and 4G networks. The Borgata also offers apps for WiFi connections.
As the state’s 14 online gambling sites have gone online, the ease of use for online players is seen as a major proponent for increasing play.
The sites took in $7.4 million in online revenue in the first five weeks of online gaming through December and added $9.5 in revenue in January. While the figures represent a 28 percent increase, the revenue is below predictions.
The rollout, however, has been hampered by technical problems such as malfunctioning geolocation programs and resistance from banks and credit card issuers to honor online gambling transactions. Still, nearly 200,000 online gambling accounts had been created in New Jersey through the end of January.
Among the city’s casinos—all New Jersey online gambling sites are either through an Atlantic City casino or the casino’s online partners—the Borgata; Caesars Atlantic City; the Tropicana Casino and Resort; Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort offer Internet gambling over mobile devices, while the Golden Nugget Atlantic City plans to launch the service next month.
The Golden Nugget’s vice president of online gambling, Thomas Winter, told the AP that smartphones and tablet devices will account for more than 20 percent of the casino’s Internet gambling revenue this year and more than 50 percent within three years.
State casino regulators are granting approval on a case-by-case basis for each casino’s mobile technology. Again, one of the stumbling blocks is strict geolocation requirements. Geolocation programs can sometimes be circumvented on mobile devices.
“Cellphones can be used for online wagering—and are being used—so long as they have a WiFi connection so they can pass the geolocation requirements,” said Lisa Spengler, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Spengler told the AP that the DGE is working with geolocation technology providers to develop a solution that would enable cellphones to connect to gambling sites without WiFi connections so long as they meet certain technical standards.
The Taj Mahal and its Ultimate casino partner and the Tropicana and its Gamesys partner are approved for cellphone use through cellphone networks, Spengler said.
Caesars Interactive launched a mobile app for its World Series of Poker brand in December. The company is working toward approval of similar apps for its CaesarsCasino.com and HarrahsCasino.com sites.
