Nj Casino Law

1. Gambling Laws By State
2. Nj Gambling Law

• Year New Jersey Regulated Gambling: Racing (1939), Bingo (1959), Lottery (1970), Casinos (1976)
• Estimated Tax Revenue from Gambling: $1.2 billion
• Estimated Gambling Revenue: $5.8 billion
• New Jersey Gambling Age: 18 for bingo, racing, and lotteries. Atlantic City casino patrons must be 21.
• Smoking ban: New Jersey exempts gaming establishments from its statewide smoking ban
• New Jersey Online gambling: Horse racing, poker, and casino games

New Jersey gambling is full of rich history; some of it was legal, much of it not. Atlantic City casinos became legal in 1976, with illegal gambling activities before that. The other forms of legalized gambling in New Jersey are racing, a state lottery, and charitable games.

New Jersey became the third state to legalize online poker in 2013. The New Jersey casino games were second to be regulated in the nation. The state has been trying to enter the sports betting industry since 2012 to help its ailing racing and gaming industries. The sports leagues filed suit and won in 2013. New Jersey tried different languages in 2014. The leagues once again sued. The case is still in the court system.

New Jersey Casinos Map & Guide

Contact Us / Directions. New Jersey Casino Control Commission Arcade Building Tennessee Avenue & Boardwalk Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401. For general questions, please email. New Jersey Poker. There are six high-profile poker rooms in New Jersey. All of them are located in Atlantic City. The largest two are operated by Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (85 tables) and Harrah’s Atlantic City (40 tables), while the remaining four are run by Bally’s (20 tables), Tropicana (18 tables), Golden Nugget (10 tables), and Ocean Resort Casino (8 tables).

• Borgata
• Harrah’s
• Caesars
• Bally’s
• Tropicana

• Number of B&M Casinos: 8
• Number of Poker Rooms: 6
• Number of Indian Casinos: 0

Types of New Jersey Online Gambling Allowed

There are three types of legal online gambling in New Jersey.

Horse Racing

Off-track horse racing is permitted through 4NJBets, a subsidiary of TVG and Betfair.

New Jersey Online Poker & Casinos

New Jersey online poker is available at WSOP.com, 888, Borgata Poker, and Party Poker. Recently they have allowed PokerStarsback into the US market and they are starting in New Jersey.

Online casino gambling is offered by those four sites as well as the Tropicana, Virgin Casino, Harrah’s, Caesars, Resorts, Mohegan Sun, Golden Nugget, Betfair, and Pala Casino. There are many online casinos that cater to US players, but those are specific to New Jersey residents.

Gray-Area: Daily Fantasy Sports

Daily fantasy sports sites claim legality in New Jersey. The companies state that the contests are games of skill and not gambling. The attorney general has not opined on the topic. There is a bill pending that would clarify the position of the sites and add some player protections.

Types of Live New Jersey Gambling

• Slots: Yes
• Blackjack: Yes
• Poker: Yes
• Craps/Roulette: Yes
• Horses: Yes
• Lottery: Yes

There are four types of live gambling available in New Jersey.

The horse racing industry is the oldest. Bets may be made on live or simulcast races. Freehold Raceway, The Meadowlands and Monmouth Park are the three tracks still open today.

There is a New Jersey state lottery. It is permitted to sell tickets to games of chance. This includes scratch-offs and lotto. Charities may hold raffles and bingo games.

The big gaming attraction in New Jersey are the Atlantic City casinos. That is the only place where you can find New Jersey casinos, and gamblers can find slot machines, video poker, and other casino games. There are no limits on the table games that are offered. Roulette, craps, blackjack, baccarat, pai gow and proprietary card games are all allowed. New Jersey casinos can only be found in Atlantic City, despite a bill that would have expanded gambling to other parts of the state.

The state is currently battling against a decline in gambling revenue, several New Jersey casinos closing. Atlantic City casinos may offer fantasy sports contests, although no casino offers this type of action.

New Jersey Gambling Laws

New Jersey gambling laws state that any gambling expansion requires a constitutional amendment. That means voters must ultimately approve the changes. All gambling charges have the potential to be felonies in New Jersey.

Unlike most other states, New Jersey casinos may extend credit to customers. This was enacted in 1988 as a way to help compete with Nevada and attract high rollers. The only place where gambling can occur is with the city limits and at the Atlantic City casinos. The only other forms of gambling permitted in the state constitution are related to charities, horse racing, and the state lottery.

New Jersey online poker and casino games may be spread by Atlantic City casinos. These are available to anybody located within the state at the time of play. Geo-location and player verification services must be implemented to protect against underage gambling and identity theft. Atlantic City casinos may partner with third parties for software and other services.

Gamblers that lose money to illegal gambling schemes may sue to recover these losses. This is known as a qui tam law.

The minimum gambling age in New Jersey is 18 years for racing, the state lottery, and charity gambling. New Jersey casinos, located in Atlantic City, have a minimum gambling age of 21 years.

All gambling is regulated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. It is thought to be one of the most stringent gaming commissions in the world.

Atlantic City casinos pay eight percent of the win to New Jersey. There is also a 1.25 percent tax that goes towards city redevelopment. Online gambling pays a tax rate of 15 percent and 2.5 percent to the redevelopment fund.

List of New Jersey Casinos

There are three New Jersey racetracks available. These are the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, Freehold Raceway in Freehold, and Monmouth Park in Oceanport.

As for New Jersey casino locations, there are eight Atlantic City casinos that are listed in the table below along with their location and contact information. Atlantic City is the only place in New Jersey where casinos can currently operate. You can look at their detailed address and locations using our interactive New Jersey casinos map.

There are hundreds of lottery retailers in the state that sell tickets. There are dozens of charities that spread bingo nights.

There are more than a dozen New Jersey online poker and casino sites that are regulated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

History of New Jersey Gambling

Horse racing started in New Jersey in the 1830’s. It was not regulated at the time. That did not happen until 1939.

Freehold Raceway was the first racetrack in New Jersey. It is the oldest one in the U.S. that is still in operation.

New Jersey voters approved a state lottery in 1970 by a more than 4-1 margin. Scratch-off tickets were sold the following year. New Jersey was the first state that sold lotto tickets where players could pick their own numbers as opposed to being forced to get quick picks. This occurred in 1975.

A movement to legalize gambling in Atlantic City started on the early 1970’s. A constitutional referendum failed in 1974 but passed two years later. It permitted Las Vegas-style casinos within the city limits of Atlantic City. No other areas were permitted to have these games or style of resorts. Resorts International became the first licensed casino in Atlantic City on May 26, 1978. It is still open today.

There were once 12 casinos in operation in Atlantic City. The recession and gambling expansion in neighboring states affected gaming revenue in Atlantic City. In 2014, four casinos closed. They were Atlantic Club, Trump Plaza, Showboat, and Revel. Atlantic Club, Revel, and Trump Plaza went bankrupt. Showboat was shuttered so that Caesars Entertainment could concentrate on the other three casinos it operates in the market. In 2016, a fifth casino closed, the Trump Taj Mahal.

Revel was an especially bizarre casino debacle. It broke ground in November 2007, just before the recession. It scaled back construction in the summer of 2008. Construction halted in March 2009.

Construction resumed at Revel in February 2011 after the company was promised tax breaks to complete the building. It was 47 stories with 1,400 hotel rooms. Much of the hotel tower was unfinished when Revel opened.

Revel finally opened on April 2, 2012. Revel’s investors thought it would change Atlantic City forever. It was an upscale option in a declining gaming market. Revel had policies that turned gamblers away. This included not permitting smoking and not offering a players club. Gamblers were an afterthought and not given comps anywhere near the same level as other casinos. It quickly filed for bankruptcy after just 10 months of operations. It emerged from bankruptcy, only to file for it a second time in June 2014. Revel closed on September 2, 2014, and has not reopened.

Online gambling was passed by the state legislature in 2011. Governor Christievetoed it, stating at the time that offering gambling outside of Atlantic City violated the state constitution. Two years later, he signed a similar bill into law after gaining some concessions that included a higher tax rate and more funds for problem gambling.

Online poker and casino sites launched in November 2013. Casino revenues have slowly increased since while poker has gone the other way. The state’s online casinos take in about $15 million per month in online gaming revenue. This is compared to about $225 million per month at Atlantic City casinos.

New Jersey voters told the state legislature they supported sports betting in November 2011. This was a nonbinding referendum. It only took a few months for lawmakers to pass a law that would have permitted Las Vegas-style sports books in Atlantic City and at the state’s three racetracks. The NFL, NBA, NCAA, NHL and MLB all sued New Jersey to stop it. The sports leagues asserted that the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act forbids states from expanding sports betting. The courts sided with the leagues in 2013.

New Jersey went back to the drawing board and drafted new legislation that lawmakers thought would satisfy the court ruling. Once again, the sports leagues sued and prevailed. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case en banc.

New Jersey Casinos & Gambling FAQ

The minimum New Jersey gambling age is 18 years for bingo, horse racing, and lottery. Atlantic City casinos have a minimum gambling age of 21 years.

Yes. There are three tracks; Monmouth Park, The Meadowlands and Freehold Raceway.

Yes, through 4NJBets.com.

Yes. The regulated sites are WSOP.com, Borgata Poker, Party Poker and 888.

Yes. The casinos that offer it are Golden Nugget, Harrah’s, Caesars, Resorts and Tropicana. Betfair, 888, Virgin Casino and Mohegan Sun are other brands licensed to operate in New Jersey.

Slots, video poker, online poker, blackjack, keno, craps, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, Texas Hold’em Bonus, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, baccarat, Mississippi Stud and Caribbean Stud Poker are among the games offered by New Jersey online casinos.

Geolocation services are used to pinpoint the exact location of the device being used to access the site.

Regulated poker and casino sites in New Jersey have a minimum age of 21, the same age as Atlantic City casinos.

The information given is matched with a public database. If the site cannot verify the player, he must submit documentation.

Deposit options include cash at the operator’s Atlantic City cage, Visa, Mastercard, prepaid debit card, electronic check, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill and PayNearMe.

New Jersey sites pay cashouts by check, PayPal, electronic check, cash at an Atlantic City cage, prepaid debit card, Neteller and Skrill, among other options.

There is a state law that permits sports betting but professional and amateur sports leagues have prevailed in court challenging it.

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act forbids the expansion of sports gambling. The courts determined that the federal law is constitutional.

It is a federal law often referred to by the acronym PASPA. It prevents states from offering sports betting that did not have it on the books in 1992. New Jersey was given one year to legislate sports betting at the time. It failed to do so.

The United States has always been the home of gambling around the world. The fame of Las Vegas stretches far and wide, but this country’s relationship with gambling is a lot more complicated than the depiction of Sin City on the silver screen would have you believe.

While excess gambling may be encouraged and even welcomed in the Nevadan city, across many other states in the country there’s an altogether different attitude to gambling. Here in New Jersey, our laws buck the trend.

Casino gambling, as well as online poker and live casino facilities, are available in New Jersey as long as they hold a license from the DGE. That makes New Jersey stand out in an American context, as most, if not all forms of internet gambling, are illegal in most US states.

We look at whether New Jersey’s relaxed laws are benefitting the state or not.

Safer Gambling

The law should safeguard people and evidence shows that anti-gambling laws in states such as Utah and Hawaii do not do that.

The purpose of any law must be to protect the citizens or the institutions that they rely on. In the context of gambling, tough laws prohibiting online gambling are almost always put in place to safeguard citizens.

It’s argued by many in favor of online gambling prohibition that the activity is intrinsically unsafe and poses a risk to minors and those prone to addiction.

Unfortunately for lawmakers, online gambling and gambling in general are not as straightforward as that. Let us take Utah for example, the only mainland state in the country where online gambling in all forms is illegal.

Do the good people of Utah not place wagers online? Of course not. While there are no official figures to show how many Utahns gamble online – they wouldn’t after all – anecdotal evidence suggests that plenty of them do.

Instead of gambling with licensed Utahan companies, residents are often placing wagers with overseas betting companies. This means they are not protected by law if and when things go wrong.

Nationwide empirical evidence recently published showed that Americans wagered $1 billion with overseas betting companies in the last year alone. Not one single cent of that money was protected by American law.

In New Jersey, whatever gripes we may have with licensing and regulations, we can at least agree that our online casinos are accountable to state law and that users reap the rewards of the security that that brings.

More Jobs

Unemployment is now more of a greater concern than ever before, but legalized and licensed online gambling companies could help to reduce the rate.

Unemployment in America hit an all-time high of 14.7% in April last year, and New Jersey was hit particularly hard too. The unemployment rate here was slightly higher than the national average, standing at 16.8%.

While nationally unemployment has dropped to around 7%, in New Jersey it has only fallen to 10.2% as of November last year. That means that roughly 460,000 people in the state are left without a job.

Fortunately, the gambling sector employs roughly 10% of that figure (around 45,000) and is continuing to grow. With every passing month, the DGE are looking to grant more licenses to online gambling companies.

Every such licensed company could employ hundreds of people, which helps to make a dent in the state’s climbing unemployment figures. At the time of writing though, the rate in which the DGE are granting licenses remains fairly slow.

If the department were to streamline their processes and allow more companies to operate legally and safely in the state, then there would be an explosion of jobs in the industry.

In the UK, a country with a world-leading gambling economy, the industry employs hundreds of thousands of people. How? Well one way online casinos hire residents is in their live casino offering.

Top-tier online casino sites have a large selection of live casino games, which are streamed directly to the user’s PC or mobile devices. These halls and tables are ran by real dealers, who can interact with players in real time. In the UK, 888 Casino have around 40 tables at play at any given time, including all live games such as live Roulette, Baccarat and Blackjack along with all their genres, which together constitutes as one of the largest live casino operators in Europe.

Increased Tax Revenues

Unfortunately, it’s hard to get hold of the exact revenue and profit figures that New Jersey’s online gambling industry brings in every year. However, if we look to April of last year, we can get a taste of the type of money that is being spent online.

In that month alone, $117,821,280 was spent with online casinos, while just over $85 million was spent on online sports wagers. If we extrapolate those figures out to make up a year, the revenues of the online gambling industry in New Jersey appear eye-wateringly huge.

This is good news for the state in general, as a huge amount of money is subject to tax both at the source and in secondary winnings. With states that have prohibited online gambling laws, almost all these revenues would be sent overseas to Canadian and British gambling companies, forcing them to lose out on vital tax dollars.

Gambling Laws By State

In Summary

The tide has turned with online gambling, and whether lawmakers like it or not, there’s no turning back. If online gambling is illegal, poker, blackjack and roulette fans will simply find an overseas website where they can gamble, as Utah has shown.

The future for the country lies in following the example set here in New Jersey, of closely regulating a homegrown industry.

Nj Gambling Law

That said, New Jersey still has a long way to go if it is to truly reap the economic rewards of a flourishing online gambling industry. Lawmakers must look to the example of our Atlantic neighbors in the UK. Mimic their regulation and licensing procedures and allow the industry to create more tax revenues and job opportunities.