Britain’s listed web casino operators are hailing the start of a new era as online poker becomes legal in the state of New Jersey, home to the gambling mecca of Atlantic City.
888 Holdings (LON:888) and Bwin.party (LON:BPTY) have both fully launched their casino and poker brands in the US state as punters there began gambling online as of Tuesday.
888casino and 888Poker have gone live, as has Bwin’s partypoker brand.
888 has launched its sites with Bally’s Casino, owned by Caesars Entertainment; Bwin has kicked off online gambling with the Borgata Hotel, Atlantic City’s biggest casino by revenue, while Betfair (LON:BET) has reportedly teamed up with Trump Plaza.
It comes as American states are increasingly looking to ease gambling regulations, which are much stricter than in the UK.
In legalising online gambling, New Jersey follows in the footsteps of Nevada, which hosts Las Vegas, and Delaware.
888’s chief executive Brian Mattingley reflected on being awarded licences in all three states: “This is a remarkable achievement for 888, which further strengthens our position in the US as the only gaming provider live in all three regulated states.”
Bwin boss Norbert Teufelberger called it “an historic day” for his company, which has returned to the US after a seven-year absence.
“We are delighted to be 'back in the game' and are focused on providing great gaming entertainment to customers in New Jersey, with a full suite of casino games, including over 30 proprietary games that are exclusive to the bwin.party network, poker tournaments, jackpots and promotions,” he said.
“Our mobile and tablet offer that will go live soon will provide access to all of our games through both iOS and Android devices, allowing our customers to enjoy our games when they are on the move in the Garden State.”
888 shares rose 1% to 161.9p, Bwin’s stock traded flat at 128p, while Betfair picked up 0.5% to £10.20 a share.