Borgata's vice-president of information technology John Forelli demonstrates in-room gaming at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, N.J. The Borgata said it will become the first casino in the United States to let guests gamble over hotel room TV sets, starting Feb. 18.(Photo: Michael Ein AP)

Starting today, gamblers at one Atlantic City casino will be able to lose their shirts without wearing one.

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa says it will be the first U.S. gambling establishment to allow in-room betting on slots and poker via a TV remote control.

Casino officials told the Associated Press that guest room TV gambling also will help visitors get accustomed to the idea of betting on handheld devices, which New Jersey recently approved, and Internet gambling, which the state could approve in the future.

The technology already is being used on select Norwegian and Costa cruise ships while the ships are in international waters. Since late 2006, Nevada has allowed sports wagering and electronic games on mobile devices within casinos.

"Around the world, people are shifting their gambling from traditional slot machines and tables to online and mobile devices," said David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and author of Roll the Bones: The History of Gamblingtold Philly.com. The Borgata's new "E casino" is a "step - albeit a small one - in that direction."

To keep underage guests or those restricted from gambling from playing, customers must have a Borgata player's club card and log in using two forms of ID: a PIN number already attached to the rewards card, and a password given at check-in. Players can wager up to $2,500 per day, and the technology will be available in all of Borgata's 2,000 hotel rooms.