Online Gaming Technology In Action

When New Jersey began rolling out online casino games in November 2013, one of the major challenges faced by the budding industry was pinpointing the precise location of players. This is especially true in a densely populated state like New Jersey which has high concentrations of people bordering other states. The technology required to triangulate a player’s precise location is especially important when the border areas of New Jersey are taken into account. Since New Jersey borders Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware it is imperative that players from those states are excluded from all real-money gaming in New Jersey. This is certainly easier said than done, and complex technology is required to make this happen.

Geolocation in Action for Online Gaming

The technology used in Nevada differs from the technology used in New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is the authority for all geolocation technology used in the state. Of course the greatest challenge for the industry in New Jersey is how to isolate those players who are legally permitted to play online for real money from those who are not. For Nevada, the issue is made so much easier since the state is so vast and the population is so small. Cell phone triangulation is accurate to within 1 mile, but this would certainly not work in a highly populous state like New Jersey which could have hundreds of thousands of people being excluded/included with such an inaccurate measure for geolocation tracking. Therefore, a different system is required to pinpoint the precise location of every eligible player in the state.

A method known as a Wi-Fi plug-in is used to get the exact location of a player that is logged in. This is essentially a downloaded piece of software that a player would install onto his/her PC, smartphone or tablet. It works by sending a signal back to a company that monitors and tracks the location of all active players on site. Caesars online gaming uses such technology to ensure that only players aged 21 and above who are physically present in the state of New Jersey can actively participate in real money gaming online. Wi-Fi triangulating technology can be used, because it is technically supposed to be accurate to within a few feet, and this would reduce the blackout zone along the border. Part of the challenge that faced New Jersey online casino players was the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity on older PCs. The Wi-Fi to regulation technology also relies on the availability of compatible networks in the area. Like all new technologies that are rolled out, bugs often appear in the system during the inception phase. The reason why it is so important to pinpoint the precise location of players is that you don’t want people to access real money gaming who are not supposed to access it. There are many false negatives in border areas, but the system has been set up precisely that way. In any event, the Department of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has made it crystal clear about which technologies have to be used in accordance with the regulations.

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