State of New Jersey gaming officials recently sent out warning letters to six major poker affiliates advising them to remove links to unauthorized poker sites from their online properties.
The action by state officials is a clear indication that NJ will be taking a hard line when it comes to unregulated, unlicensed offshore gambling sites.
Affiliate sites that received the letter include:
- CardsChat.com
- PokerSource.com
- RakeBrain.com
- Pokersites.com
- RaketheRake.com
- One Unnamed Site
While it’s not clear why Garden State regulators took so long to crack down on the grey market links, the wording of the warning made it clear that they’re very serious about the crackdown:
This letter shall serve as official notice that your website, by offering links to sites which may be offering unauthorized online gaming, may be promoting activity that is contrary to New Jersey and federal law. The state of New Jersey reserves the right to pursue appropriate civil or criminal sanctions against you if you fail to take the requested actions.
In a report published on PerformanceInsider.com, Department of Gaming Enforcement spokesperson Kerry Langan said:
We believe this may either taint legitimate sites by associating them with the illegal ones, and conversely may lend the appearance that these illegal sites are affiliated with authorized sites.
In short, DGE officials do not want the good name of NJ iGaming tainted by any association with unlicensed gambling. How big an impact this has on poker affiliates, who may not be able to afford to limit themselves to just a few regulated programs, remains to be seen.