Boyd Gaming CEO: ‘New Jersey Better Opportunity for Online Poker Than Nevada’

Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith tells EGR Magazine he believes New Jersey presents better opportunities for online poker than Nevada.

Both states legalized online poker for real money within in their borders in recent weeks.  But Web poker need liquidity, something Nevada might not quite have.  New Jersey’s population is approximately three times than of the Silver State, but more importantly, New Jersey is surrounded by major metropolises the likes of Manhattan and Philadelphia.  One only needs to cross the river to access licensed online poker sites in the Garden State.

Smith told EGR:

Clearly given the population in New Jersey, it’s a much larger state and therefore much larger opportunity…We’re assessing what makes sense to do and how it makes sense to roll out, so we don’t have as clear a direction in Nevada today, because of the different opportunities and the fact that they are smaller given the population of the state.

Nevada and New Jersey are looking to form state compacts that would ultimately help to build greater player pools.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com