California's Pala Band of Mission Indians has become the first Native American tribe to launch its online casino in the US state of New Jersey following the announcement of its partnership with Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel & Spa last week.

This came on the back of the tribe, through its Pala Interactive gambling arm, having had its partnership with Borgata conditionally approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement earlier this month.

Associated Press reported that the tribe had now received permission from regulators in the state to launch a full gambling service, with its PalaCasino.com having started taking bets on Saturday. It will also launch an online poker site during the first quarter of 2015.

Jim Ryan, chief executive of Pala Interactive, said: "We had a solid weekend and we have yet to start marketing. We believe we are breaking into the New Jersey market at the perfect time."

When asked why he believed Pala Interactive could be successful in New Jersey when other licensed operators have found it hard there, Ryan told iGaming Business that his company's sole focus on New Jersey would enable it to get the product right and be successful.

"We will operate only in New Jersey and that means the product will change and improve over time; the player journey, issues related to geolocation, the gamification of the sign up process so that it is more engaging for the player. All this attention to detail will mean that the 90 plus games that we will be offering will be the best they can be for our customers," he said.

Industry contacts have also made critical comments about the regulatory and compliance requirements expected of operators in New Jersey, but the Pala boss said he hadn't found the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement's procedures cumbersome or over-zealous.

"There are barriers to entry as in any regulated environment and requirements will be different (for different markets). The DGE is very protective of the players but also very commercially-minded and does all it can to provide a top working environment for operators."

The tribe already runs the land-based Pala Casino and Spa in California and had been keen to expand into igaming and will now use one of Borgata's online gambling licences to launch its new service in New Jersey.

The tribe's launch in New Jersey comes on the first anniversary of the state's legalised online gambling market, which was launched last November.

Since the November 25 launch date in 2013, New Jersey online gambling generated $111 million (€89.4 million) in revenue, a total that is some way short of the $1 billion projected by officials in the state.

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