Golden Nugget Vice President of Marketing D'Ann Glenn demonstates the online version of poker at the Atlantic City, N.J., casino Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013.(Photo: Thomas P. Costello, The Asbury Park, N.J., Press)

Story Highlights

• Online gambling at Atlantic City casinos began launching Thursday, with a full rollout on Tuesday
• It's the biggest expansion of gambling in the state since casinos were legalized 36 years ago
• The Christie administration is banking on new revenue of $180 million for the state budget in the current fiscal year

ATLANTIC CITY — How far has casino gambling in New Jersey evolved? Now it's no longer necessary to be present to win.

Invitation-only online gambling hosted by many of Atlantic City's 12 casinos began launching Thursday, with a full rollout expected Tuesday when any registered player — at least 21 years old and within the state's borders — can begin playing.

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It's the biggest expansion of gambling in the state since casinos were legalized 36 years ago and it means a new era of playing casino games for real money on desktop computers, smartphones and iPads from living rooms and restaurants — even from a slow-moving checkout line at the supermarket.

If you haven't heard much about the venture, you are about to, promises D'Ann Glenn, vice president of marketing at Golden Nugget Casino Hotel.

"The past couple of days we've been doing a photo shoot to use in a TV commercial campaign in December. Online gaming can introduce people to the Golden Nugget brand, especially those who have not been to Atlantic City in a long time," Glenn said. "We're very much looking forward to this opportunity."

The market of former Atlantic City visitors is large. There has been a sharp cut in the bricks-and-mortar casino business over the past seven years, compared with golden years when New Jersey was a gambling industry leader. The state's casinos have lost about 40 percent of their business during the slump as other states have expanded gambling and siphoned off New Jersey's customers.

Internet gambling is the new wildcard. Delaware and Nevada are the only other states that have it. Internet gambling generated as much as $6 billion a year through 1,700 illegal offshore websites, according to the American Gaming Association, a trade group.

New Jersey now is positioned to capture a good share of the illegal market while taxing and regulating it, said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, who sponsored the online gaming law that Gov. Chris Christie signed earlier this year.

"This is a giant boost to our casino industry," Lesniak said. "Just because this has been in the works, that has prevented at least one casino from closing. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and jobs are being saved."

The state government has a big bet riding on the success of the venture. The Christie administration is banking on new revenue of $180 million for the state budget in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services thinks Gov. Chris Christie's forecast is too optimistic and has predicted $40 million in revenue. If the OLS is right and Christie is wrong, it could squeeze the state's spending plans for the first six months of 2014, Lesniak said.

Israel Posner, a casino analyst with Stockton College's Levenson Institute of Gaming, cautioned against too much focus on the early financial results of Internet betting.

"The reality is that it will take a while to really ramp up, and focusing on revenue in the first year is somewhat naive. Who cares what happens when a brand new industry launches? It doesn't show you what will happen down the road. It may take several years to figure out how to run the business. As a baseball metaphor, it's not even the first inning, we're still only in batting practice," Posner said.

Posner, however, said the conditions are good for Atlantic City to gain rejuvenation as a tourist destination.

"Online gaming is an opportunity for casinos to extend their database to connect to customers who have not been to Atlantic City in many years, and to those who do come, but not as often as before. There are convenience gamblers who are unlikely visitors and they will typically play online. For others gambling is part of an overall weekend getaway experience or a vacation, and this is a chance to pull them back to the city in greater numbers," Posner said.

Carl Zeitz, a former state casino regulator who often writes about gambling, said, "Everybody including me is guessing on what the impact will be on the casinos and the city. The dividing line is going to be generational. Will the younger people who are always using smartphones and iPads discover online gambling and enjoy it? That could be a huge market."

Delaware launched online gambling earlier this month. At the start of this week, the state had 1,829 "registered and deposited players," said Vernon Kirk, director of the Delaware Lottery. No betting figures will be available until a full month of play is completed.

"We don't know if the number of players so far is good, bad or somewhere in-between, but we're pleased," Kirk said.

Up to seven casinos were expected to have permission from state regulators to begin so-called soft launches for a limited number of players by Friday. The first approvals went to Borgata, Tropicana, Trump Plaza, Trump Taj Mahal, Bally's and Caesars. Glenn said she expected Golden Nugget to join the group late Thursday or today.

Trump Plaza has partnered in the venture with Betfair, a giant among betting system operators overseas.

Betfair also owns TVG, the platform provider for 4NJBets, the exclusive horse racing account-wagering system in New Jersey.

"We are already broadcasting to New Jersey residents on TVG and taking wagers on the advance-deposit wagering platform," said Ben Carter, Betfair's digitial director. "What we have now is the ability to bring the rest of our brand here and give New Jersey residents and Americans the ability to play casino games like poker online, on your mobile phone, anytime and anywhere. ... Our whole campaign, our brand, is based on giving people thrills."

State gaming regulators are wary that online gambling could become popular with compulsive players. Officials recently announced that a casino self-exclusion list is being extended to allow problem gamblers to ban themselves from Internet betting.