Finally, the news broke late on Friday, December 13 that Golden Nugget was ready and would offer online gaming as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The Associated Press alerted the poker media that the Golden Nugget would launch GoldenNuggetCasino.com with 77 game titles, including some games that were not even available yet in the Atlantic City brick-and-mortar casino.
Initial Troubles
Golden Nugget was the one site that presented the most confusion during the November 21 trial period for New Jersey Internet gaming. It was initially left off of the list of sites preparing for their soft launches. Only hours before the launch of online casinos and poker was it actually added onto the list.
David Rebuck, Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, noted at the time that it was Golden Nugget’s decision to continue testing and refrain from launching before it was ready. At that time, the company expected to launch within the week. However, glitches remained and it was more than two weeks before the site was fully ready.
The site’s general manager, Tom Pohlman, told Business Week: “We weren’t satisfied with what we were ready to offer our customers at that point. Now we are very satisfied. Everything is exactly where we want it to be. We offer more titles of slots, video poker and table games than anyone, and we make it easier than anywhere else to fund an account and get started.”
Choices for Customers
Though GoldenNuggetPoker.com has not launched, the casino site offers 77 game titles, including four variations of blackjack, four kinds of roulette, and baccarat. There are five video poker games, as well as numerous slot games that use IGT, Bally Technologies, and SHFL titles.
Golden Nugget’s online casino also offers customers the ability to use several options to make deposits and withdrawals to and from their online casino accounts. Visa and Mastercard (depending on the issuer) are available for use, as are bank transfers, personal checks, and Discover prepaid cash cards. In addition, the ability to use the cashier cage at the land-based Golden Nugget Casino is another option.
Golden Nugget now joins the list of available online gaming sites that include Borgata with partypoker, Caesars with 888, Tropicana with Gamesys, Trump Taj Mahal with Ultimate Gaming, and Trump Plaza with Betfair.
