Pala Casino Enters New Jersey Poker Market

New Jersey poker players have something extra to celebrate these days, the presence of an additional online casino establishment on the local market, and a legal one at that. The initial beta testing of the Pala Casino has begun and ended after a few short days, making this the first tribal establishment of this type to go online in New Jersey.

This is the result of a partnership between Pala Interactive and the land based Borgata Hotel from Atlantic City. They’ve partnered after getting approval from DGE, the Division of Gaming Enforcement from New Jersey. Pala Interactive is actually a creation of the Pala Indians, based in California but having to come to the East coast because the lack of online gambling legislation in their home state.

You will find them at PalaCasino.com, where they launched a Beta mode last week and they’re probably ready to start taking players in right about now. The launch of the casino is not being advertised just yet, making this a soft launch where the management team is still ironing out the kinks and making sure the experience is the right one, before they start bringing in a lot of new players.

The 500 or so beta testers that were part of the casino’s testing period got a package that placed about $25 per day in their account, plus reimbursements of up to $50 for their deposits. It’s not a play money deal though, as the winnings were kept by the players that helped with the beta testing. That beta tester’s package doesn’t cancel the casino’s typical welcome package though, the one that everyone else will be getting. It consists of a no deposit bonus of $10 for free, plus a deposit bonus of up to $100 at 100% match and a spin for a chance at $1,000,000.

The obvious requirement here was for the players that became beta testers to be from New Jersey, since the casino is available only for players based in that state. The wagers placed are also limited to $5 or less, with a minimum of 25 bets made on a minimum of 5 games. The daily $25 that was promised was offered only after a survey was filled at the end of the test.

An even bigger surprise for New Jersey poker players is the soon to be launched PalaPoker.com, a licensed poker website that will be completely legal to play on in the state. This one is still in the “Coming soon” stage, so you will have to wait on it a bit more.