June 20, 2014 UPDATE: Bovada has also decided to leave the two other regulated U.S. markets, Nevada and Delaware. Players in these two states will no longer be able to create new accounts on the Bovada website.

Current customers in the three states are still able to play but are now unable to make new deposits. Visitors from NJ, DE and NV are now unable to sign-up.The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is certainly getting the job done in New Jersey, at least as far as driving out the competition. Just 10 days ago letters were sent to six online affiliates doing business in the New Jersey online gambling market telling them to remove any links to online gaming sites that “are not authorized under federal law or under the law of any State.”
Included in the letter were the specific website that the DGE was targeting, amongst them Americas Card Room and Bovada.

The entire poker network that is used by Americas Card Room pulled out of New Jersey almost immediately. The affiliates took down the links to the offending sites within a day or two and today Bovada announced that they too are pulling out of New Jersey. In a statement, Bovada said: “Our partner brand Bovada.lv has chosen to stop new account registrations for residents of the state of New Jersey. Existing account holders will not be affected.”

It is not as if the Feds were banging on the doors of Bovada, instead the site has made the decision of “their own volition”. We tested the Bovada.lv website and even thought a prospective clients can pick NJ as a state on the sign-up form, the ‘Open Account’ button is replace with a note saying, “We are sorry. We do not accept registrations from your state. For more information please contact us.”

Many online sites refuse registration from certain states, especially those that have laws on the books against Internet gambling (Washington) and states that have prosecuted online operators (NY, MD, LA, MO). Clearly, Bovada, as well as the Winning Poker Network that runs ACR, is looking to avoid being in the cross hairs of any US governmental agency, which frankly is smart in today’s online gaming climate.

Or maybe this move by Bovada is based on the numbers for the licensed and regulated site in New Jersey, which have been woefully low. Bovada Poker is one of the most popular poker rooms for U.S. players and still will be, with fresh New Jersey players or not. Existing players should keep in mind that they are still able to play at any of the sites or poker networks identified in the DGE letter. The sites mentioned here are reputable and even if they stopped taking NJ bets altogether, we are 100% certain players would be paid out any remaining balances.