Internet Gambling Scores Its Biggest Win – in New Jersey

New Jersey became the biggest state yet to allow regulated online gambling, establishing a template that proponents hope other states will follow for a business that federal authorities long treated as a criminal enterprise.

The new law allows Atlantic City's casinos to run websites that take bets on games such as blackjack, slots and poker. It also could help legitimize online-gambling companies whose executives the U.S. Justice Department once targeted for offering the same kind of Internet wagers. The law, passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), for now requires bettors to be physically present in the state, which industry executives and regulators believe can be verified with technology that tracks a user's location. But bets could conceivably be placed from any device with an Internet connection. New Jersey's move marks a significant turning point in the debate over online gambling in the U.S., which has been raging for more than a decade. But while it could encourage similar measures in other states, big hurdles remain to widespread acceptance of such gambling.