Mobile gambling in Atlantic City
Mobile gambling

A new legislative bill could see Atlantic City gamblers able to play from their hotel rooms, as an earlier 2006 proposal may yet come to see the light of day.

Atlantic City lawyers are currently mulling over two new bills that could potentially allow the city’s gamblers the right to gamble from their hotel rooms with mobile casinos instead of in the actual casinos themselves.

The idea first came to the table in 2006, after Las Vegas introduced a similar scheme in 2005, but was initially flatly rejected. Six years on, the proposal is back on the table as Senator Jim Whelan, who backs the bills, chairs the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee, where the proposals are due for discussion this week.

The devices, which operate by a wireless function, similar to the ones now in use in Las Vegas, would allow gamers to take their pocket device back to their hotel rooms and continue gambling, instead of making the trip downstairs to the incredibly busy tables and slots.

There was initial concern that under-age gamblers could get their hands on the devices, though this seems to have been quashed by reports that only approved gamers will have access to them, and an account would need to be set up prior to the release of the consoles. As a further security measure, there is also talk of the devices being unable to function outside of the casinos perimeter, further ensuring nobody “wanders off” with the consoles.

At this time it is unclear as to how people would be able to get hold of the mobile casino games directly.

The move comes after Senator Whelan identified the younger generation of gamers, who are consistently on their mobile phones, tablets and other hand-held devices, as a possible target for expanding the market. The Senator had the following to say: “They play computer games, and so on, and they text and they Facebook on their iPads and their smart-phones, and so forth, and so I think it makes sense to recognize what was not even thought of 30 years ago and is now a reality.”

It is widely felt that the scheme would only further enhance Atlantic City’s claim to be the number one established gambling resort on the North Eastern coast of the United States. Partly to appease the anti-gaming community and partly to raise tourism, it has been drafted that the second bill would allow for substantial tax-breaks for those companies seeking to build non-gaming establishments in the resorts, though this would be under strict regulations.

It has been reported in mobile gambling news across the net, that only projects that require at least $20,000,000 in capital, that create one hundred jobs and “yield a net positive benefit to the state” would be qualified for the scheme. It is also stated that in case unemployment hits 20 percent of those jobs in the future, then no tax benefits would be granted until the cuts had been overturned and the number of jobs was filled again.