Ocean Resort and Hard Rock Apply for NJ iGambling Licences

New Jersey, the USA’s biggest regulated online gambling market, currently has 23 internet gambling sites approved and granted licences by its Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). However, that number is set to increase further this year after Atlantic City’s two revamped and rebranded casinos, the Ocean Resort Casino and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, open their doors for business.
According to reports, the owners of these two properties have already made licence applications to the regulatory body, and if approved there will then be a total of seven operators offering their products to players located within the state’s borders. Presently, the five operators providing online gambling services in New Jersey are the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Golden Nugget Atlantic City, Resorts Casino Hotel, and the Tropicana Casino and Resort.
The two casinos not mentioned on the list are Harrah’s and Bally’s, but both are owned by Caesars Entertainment, which in addition to operating its own site also runs NJ online gambling sites for Harrah’s, WSOP NJ, 888 casino, and 888 poker. However, Caesars Interactive Entertainment subsequently made the decision not to launch a competing website under the Bally’s name.
Looking ahead, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which was formerly the Trump Taj Mahal, is set to open for business as early as May 28th in time for Memorial Day weekend, while Ocean Resort Casino, formerly called Revel, is expected to open sometime this summer. As its new owner Bruce Deifik stated after purchasing the property for $200 million on behalf of a consortium of investors (AC Ocean Walk LLC):
“We are incredibly excited that we were able to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire this tremendous property at a time when Atlantic City is seeing great economic strides.”
Online gambling has been an important contributing factor to Atlantic City’s revival, and recently it was revealed that UK gambling technology firm GAN had signed a multi-year deal with AC Ocean Walk LLC to provide online gambling services on behalf of the casino.