Pala Band gambling goes to Joisey

New Jersey's Gaming Enforcement Division this week authorized North County's Pala Interactive to offer online gambling in that state, according to gamblingtoday.com and pokernewsdaily.com. The Pala Band of Mission Indians will be the first Indian casino to offer online gambling in New Jersey. Pala will team with the parent company of Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

The initial approval is conditional, running for six months. Final approval is expected to come later. The operation anticipates a launch in late November or early December. Supposedly, only New Jersey citizens will be able to bet on the online site. Pala, which runs the Pala Casino Spa Resort in North County, has been working hard to get approval for online gambling in California.

Pala management has been outspoken in wanting to keep so-called "bad actors" out of gambling. The head of Pala Interactive is Jim Ryan, who was chief executive of the parent of Ultimate Bet, which was closed down by the federal government in 2011. However, "Ryan himself was never tied to any of the cheating," says pokernewsdaily.com.