Poker News

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) announced yesterday that it has entered into an agreement with Continent 8, LLC, a data center located in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Canada, that will prohibit any online gambling sites operating through that data center from taking wagers from customers in New Jersey and the United States.

If Kahnawake sounds familiar, it is because it is the home of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which licenses many online gaming sites. Continent 8 is not technically part of the KGC, but they are very closely related; most if not all of the sites going through Continent 8 are licensed by the KGC.

In a press release, the DGE explained the nature of the agreement:

When DGE became aware that Continent 8, LLC, may have provided services to certain illegal Internet gaming websites through that data center, it took prompt action. After extensive discussions with the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) involving unique jurisdictional issues, the Division was able to ensure that any such websites originating from Kahnawake will no longer be available to United States residents in jurisdictions where these companies are not authorized to operate, after September 30, 2016.

As a result, sites such as Bovada, a leading provider of illegal online sports wagering and other online gaming content, will no longer be operating out of the data center located in Kahnawake. Also after that date, the KGC will take regulatory action against any of its applicants or licensees found to be accepting such wagers.

One thing interesting about this is that somehow the New Jersey DGE was able to get Continent 8 to extend the ban to the entire U.S., not just New Jersey. Additionally, the press release singled out Bovada, which withdrew from the New Jersey market in the spring of 2014. Bovada is the U.S.-facing version of Bodog. While Bovada and Bodog have accepted U.S. customers for years, New Jersey was able to flush out most of the sites, like Bovada, that were not licensed in the Garden State.

It does not appear that this agreement will affect much of any sites, as the ones licensed by the KGC and therefore almost certainly routing through Continent 8, don’t serve the New Jersey market, anyway. In fact, Salmon River Technologies, which held the license for Bovada, voluntarily terminated its KGC license (Client Provider Authorization) effective September 1st.

It seems that Bovada knew this was going to happen, as it recently announced the sale of its poker room to Ignition Casino; Bovada Poker will disappear on October 1st, the same day the New Jersey DGE/Continent 8 agreement goes into effect. Lynton Limited, the company that appears to own Ignition Casino, also terminated its Client Provider Authorization with the KGC at the same time as Bovada.

The Bovada/Ignition relationship is a hazy one. Both Bovada and Ignition use the Bodog poker software, have very similarly designed sites, and share player pools. And of the three sites with Latvian domains that were licensed by the KGC, two belonged to Lynton Limited and one was Bovada.

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