New Jersey Casino Control Commission

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission was established in 1977 and, since then, has undergone a number of major transformations. Thanks to its functioning, gambling has become transparent and more honest. Since 2013, online casinos have become legal, which allowed attracting large investments in the budget of New Jersey. The regulator cooperates with the Division of Gaming Enforcement. This department performs many functions in the state's gambling industry and recommends licensing the commission.

The Casinoz team notes that despite the regulator's rich history and the attractiveness of the US market, a small number of online operators have received a license from New Jersey. This is due to the relatively high taxes and complex licensing procedures.

Regulator licensed casinos

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission licenses not only online casinos but also video pokie manufacturers, including NYX Gaming Group Ltd., Ezugi, Evolution Gaming, NetEnt, and a number of others. These are companies with state gambling licenses.

New Jersey Casino Control Commission review

In 1977, the Casino Regulatory Commission took office for the first time. The company's first office was in a hotel in Trenton city and housed in two small rooms.

Until 1995, the organization had several scandals associated with senior management. Yet, the Commission quickly regained citizens' trust. Many requirements and conditions have been developed to determine which land-based casinos should operate.

• 1995 can be considered a turning point in the Commission's history. It was in this year that the new chairman attracted significant investment in the industry and introduced a number of amendments to the law.
• Online casinos were legalized in 2013, and several attempts were made, but the governor of the state previously blocked them.
• And sports betting was legalized only in 2018.

New Jersey has the most "confusing" laws for online gaming. This is expressed in several organizations, many regulations governing Internet gambling clubs' functioning process, and "hard" check Internet operators.

In fact, for the regulation of gambling in New Jersey, there are two organizations responsible:

1. the Casino Regulatory Commission,
2. the Division of Gaming Enforcement.

The Commission issues licenses, and the Department conducts all necessary checks on companies wishing to obtain a gambling license and compliance with gambling legislation.

The Technical Services Bureau is responsible for supervising the integrity of the gaming equipment in the casino. It is engaged in testing pokie machines in land-based and online casinos. This organization's certificate guarantees players the reliability and honesty of the pokies. In fact, such a certificate became mandatory for companies offering gambling equipment (providers).

In 2001, the organization created a "self-exclusion list" through which players can limit themselves from playing in the casino. In 2013, this list became applicable to online casinos. To enter this register, the player must personally apply or use the online form. Especially interesting is that players document their identity and take photos in self-exclusion. All land-based and online casinos have access to this register, so they must protect the player from gambling. In an offline casino, a player from this list will simply not be allowed to play, while at online casinos, such an account will be immediately blocked when data is filled in the profile.

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License types of New Jersey Casino Control Commission

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission regulates (licenses) all types of gambling entertainment. But unlike other regulators, their licenses are more extensive. For example, a casino license will allow you to install pokie machines, blackjack, roulette, and poker tables.

• A casino license is required to open an offline casino.
• An Internet casino license is required to open an online casino.
• A sports betting license is required to accept sports bets via the Internet or land-based bookmakers.
  
• An employee license is for casino employees providing gambling services (for example, pit bosses).

On January 5, 2011, a pilot program was developed to license small hotels wishing to open a casino:

• Small Scale Casino Hotel—A license is issued to open a land-based casino in a hotel with a total of at least 200 rooms and at least 499. The maximum area allocated for the casino is 24000 square meters.
• Staged Casino Hotel Facility—licenses the hotel where the land-based casino is planned to open. The number of rooms for visitors must be at least 200 and not more than 499. A license of this type is issued if you plan to expand the hotel and there is an approved plan for future expansion.

The licensing procedure in New Jersey is very laborious. The company wishing to obtain a gambling license must provide data on all employees and related companies without exception. The cost of a license application is $200,000. A non-refundable deposit (regardless of the decision) is equal to 100,000 USD. Licenses for land-based casinos are issued for five years; for online casinos, the license must be renewed annually.

Organizations wishing to become owners of a gambling license to open an online casino must also provide a full documentation package. In addition, the license is issued only if the organization approves cooperation with one of the land institutions. Currently, they are the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Golden Nugget, Tropicana, Caesars, and others. Moreover, each land-based institution has a limit for cooperation. For example, you can conclude no more than three contracts for the opening of online sports betting.

When applying for licensing online casinos, the servers on which the gameplay takes place must be located within the city (Atlantic City) and the operators themselves must ensure the safety of their placement and only at their own expense.

Monthly tax deductions according to the rules of the gambling license, paid from the gross income of the institution:

• Land-based casinos – 8%,
• Online casino – 15%,
• Online sports betting – 13%,
• Ground-based bookmakers – 8.5%.

Additionally, casinos pay 1.25% (land-based) and 2.5% (online) of their income to the casino reinvestment authority.

Dispute resolution

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has a special department that deals with Internet player complaints. This department is competent to work with complaints against the licensee or the company owning the license.

The new Jersey gambling division requires all operators to have effective systems in place to receive, record, manage and investigate customer complaints about online gaming.

The complaint procedure is strictly regulated:

• You must first file a complaint directly at the casino, following the procedure listed on their website
• Get an official response to your complaint from the online casino
  Write an appeal to the gambling department of New Jersey, attaching a response from the casino and describing in detail the dispute.

According to the adopted law of 2014, the Commission must consider the player's appeal within five working days. On the organization's website, there is a special application form. If you have any questions, please call (609) 984-0909. Complaints are encouraged to send via e-mail igaming@njdge.org.

Conclusion

The organization that regulates gambling in New Jersey quite fruitfully affects the development of gambling in the United States and in its state in particular but, according to Casinoz, excessively regulates the standards of work. For example, it restricts the issuance of licenses for online casinos and actually forces companies to enter into agreements with land-based casinos. As practice shows, the US gambling market still attracts large players of online gambling, and they get permission to work in this jurisdiction.