1st To Fall
Added: Oct. 6, 2014
Did you see the news coming to us from the state of New Jersey recently? As you know, New Jersey has been at the forefront of pushing the envelope for online casinos and online gambling in the United States. Along the way there have been a few hiccups and mishaps as might be expected from such an undertaking. Now the efforts of online casino proponents and Governor Chris Christie in particular are only just now beginning to become apparent.
However, this time the news is of a pullout, a retreat from the New Jersey online gambling marketplace if you will. It turns out that the the online gambling company by the name of Ultimate Gaming is throwing in the towel. In a recent press release, senior vice president, Mr Marc Falcone let it be known that Ultimate Gaming has had enough.
In what could best be described as finger pointing, if not an outright attack, Falcone is blaming its own partner for having to pull out. You may not know this, but Ultimate Gaming is partnered with Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. Unfortunately, according to Mr. Falcone’s allegations, the Trump resort has left Unltimate Gaming with no other choice. And to make sure that everyone understood the point, Falcone stated that Ultimate is owed at least $1.5million from Trump. To make matters worse, Falcone stated that Ultimate has not been paid in more than two months.
Ouch! That smarts. Or does it? Is this more politicking and posturing from the gambling magnates? Consider that with this announcement, even with all of the finger pointing and accusations, Falcone did not in fact release a clear date for pulling out of New Jersey after all. Might this mean that Ultimate has an ace up their sleeve they are waiting to play? Or is this for real and soon there won’t be any Ultimate Gaming in New Jersey?
But even if they completely pull out, will that matter so much? Are you aware that Ultimate Gaming is actually in last place? Last place as in the bottom of the list of the six authorized online gambling operators in New Jersey? This ranking is based on what is termed gaming turnover. Gaming turnover is simply a fancy way of phrasing gaming revenue. For the record, Ultimate Gaming has reported revenue of $4.9Million, a number which places it at the bottom of the list.
Is this the end of Ultimate Gaming in New Jersey? Of course, it is way too early to make that sort of claim. Stay tuned as the big gaming operators sweat this out.