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Richard Branson wants a piece of the online gambling market in New Jersey as his Virgin Group is set to launch a real money site there this week.
VirginCasino.com is due to launch on Friday. It was one of 15 approved last fall to operate in the Garden State. Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law allowing real money online gambling sites offering poker, roulette and blackjack.
The Virgin Group has teamed up with the Tropicana and online game maker Gamesys.
New Jersey online gambling sites took in $8.4 million between the November 21 launch and end of the year. To date, PartyPoker and its partner property The Borgata have taken in the lion’s share of that business.
Analysts expect the state to take in between $200 to $500 million this year in online gambling revenue. Earlier estimates offered up by Governor Christie were said to be highly inflated.
VirginCasino.com already operates a popular online casino accepting customers throughout Europe. While they do offer poker, the company is more likely to focus on its casino games including video poker and blackjack. Casino games and bingo traditionally generate the most money for the Web gambling sector whereas poker is mostly seen as a loss leader that requires a large player pool a state the size of New Jersey may not be able to provide with such stiff competition.
Lawmakers in New Jersey have hinted at legislation that would allow local company websites to combine player pools with those in European and other world markets where the activity is legal.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
