bwin.party is ready to go in New Jersey

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment’s director of communications, John Shepherd, told the publication Press of Atlantic City this week that his company’s partnership with Borgata Casino co-owners MGM Resorts and Boyd Gaming would see online gambling made available to New Jersey residents as soon as the intrastate internet gambling regulations are implemented – currently planned for November 23.

“Everybody is going to be jockeying for position, but we plan to be there on Day 1,” Shepherd said, adding that the company will offer New Jersey gamblers an array of online wagering for slots and table games through a totally refurbished website.

“We’ve spent the last two years rebuilding it from top to bottom,” he said. “It has been changed to keep up with I-gaming technologies. It is faster, cleaner and integrates social media.”

The Press of Atlantic City quotes figures from consulting group Spectrum Gaming Group, which indicate that online gambling will become an $8.5 billion business in the U.S. within five years.

Spectrum estimates Atlantic City casinos will initially reap $400 million in annual revenue from New Jersey’s online gambling operations.

Leveraging the skills and assets of the partners, Borgata’s online slot wagering and table games will be offered through the Borgatapoker.com and Borgatacasino.com websites, said Joe Lupo, the casino’s senior vice president of operations.

Bwin.party will also have its own website for New Jersey called nj.partypoker.com.

“We have aligned ourselves with Europe’s premier Internet provider for online poker,” Lupo told Press of Atlantic City. “We couldn’t be happier. We have the full intention of leading the online market, as we do with the brick-and mortar business. Bwin.party’s support, experience and partnership are primary reasons why it will work so successfully here in New Jersey.”

Shepherd and Adam Pliska, president of the World Poker Tour, were at pains to assuage fears that the advent of online gambling could have an adverse impact on brick and mortar business.

Shepherd said that online wagering is an ideal complement to brick-and-mortar operations.

“In a way, it’s a business feeder to the poker rooms at the casinos,” he said.

Pliska pointed to the major live poker tournaments run by establishments like the Borgata and said:

“The promotion of I-gaming has always been a great complement to the promotion of the poker event. Internet gaming is an incentive to have players come to the brick-and-mortar poker tournaments.”

Movie and television star-turned-poker player James Woods, said he believes online wagering creates synergies with regular casino operations, and that online gambling can introduce poker to players who will eventually sharpen their skills and enter real-life tournaments.

“I feel you could never really have one without the other,” Woods said.