New Jersey issues first fine for underage online gambling

Gaming regulators at the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) issued their first fine for gambling by a minor to Rush Street Interactive. The decision was passed down earlier this month, but was only made public this week.
According to the State, a New Jersey focused news site, approximately 15 underage players accessed Rush Street Interactive’s digital casino properties multiple times between November 2016 and January 2018. During their visits, the young gamblers placed at least $5,000 worth of wagers. So far, there’s no indication as to what games the minors played during their visits.
Suffice to say, the DGE take underage gambling very seriously and was quick to issue a fine of $30,000 to the company. That fine gave Rush Street a US gaming first that they’d likely never wanted, the first US online gambling operator to receive a fine for allow underage gambling in the post-Wire-Act-revision-era.
Officials at Rush Street told the DGE and media that the minors were able to access the site due to a flaw in their age verification software that allowed three years worth of wiggle room on a player’s age. Once company employees spotted the mistake, they self-reported to the DGE and an investigation was launched.
In a statement to the media, company officials described the situation saying, “We take this matter very seriously. As soon as our team discovered the misconfiguration, we self-reported it to the gaming commission and took immediate action to correct and prevent recurrence. Responsible gaming is a top priority for us.”
Rush Street Interactive is affiliated with the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City, though the company was not part of the investigation and was not a party to the incident.