New Jersey online gambling operators hit with fines

When it comes to online gambling in the United States, New Jersey is the leader of the pack. The Garden State led the fight for regulation and is enforcing those regulations with real vigor. To wit, earlier this month several New Jersey online licensees were hit with fines for a series of infractions involving self-excluded players.
At the top of the fines heap is bwin.party entertainment (NJ), which partners with the Atlantic City Borgata. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement hit the company with an $81,000 fine for allowing self-excluded players to play on its digital properties. According to a report on CalvinAyre.com, 12 self-excluded players lost a combined total of $41,759 gambling online with the company. That money will be forfeited to the state (though not returned to the players).
This is the second major forfeiture the company’s been hit with this year. Earlier in the month, Borgata was forced to forfeit $68,000 in a case involving 36 players who were either underage, self-excluded, or otherwise barred from enjoying the pleasures of NJ gambling.
Caesars Entertainment was also dinged by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) for violations related to self-excluded players. In their case, the fines and forfeitures only amounted to $5,000.
This recent spate of fines and violations doesn’t mean that regulated online gambling in the United States is running amok, playing fast and loose with the law. In fact, the DGE’s diligence in enforcing the laws of its state as written show that regulated online gambling works when regulators properly enforce those regulations.