One of the states that offers online casino gaming within the United States is New Jersey. One of only three states offering online gaming, New Jersey has strict regulations in place that must be followed by operators in order to legally provide casino and poker gaming services. These regulations were put in place by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and must be followed. Any operator who does not follow the rules will be subject to consequences such as fines.
It is not uncommon to hear of an operator breaking certain rules or restrictions outside of the United States when it comes to online gaming. Operators have been fined in the past for breaking such regulations as offering services in restricted areas or allowing underage gaming. In the United States, it is more common to see land based venues facing fines for regulation rule breaking including underage gambling, allowing restricted gamblers to be on the casino gaming floor, etc.
Just recently, it was brought to light by Poker Industry Pro that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement had fined an operator within the state for breaking regulations. The GameAccount Network, known as GAN, was given a civil penalty of $25,000 based on bets of less than $350 which were placed at Betfair Casino, an operator based online who uses the gaming software of GAN.
The wagers were placed outside of the borders of New Jersey, which is a big no-no. Operators are supposed to use geolocation software to quickly detect the location of a player and only allow those who are located within the borders of New Jersey to take part. Reportedly, six players who were located on Android mobile devices were allowed to play while not being located in New Jersey.
Out of state wagering is strictly prohibited and licensed providers of online gaming are to use strict geolocation measures to prevent this from happening. Updates to software is to be rigorously tested to ensure the location tracking options are working and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement must approve such changes before the software can be provided to customers.
Due to the incident, GAN took matters into their own hands to rectify the situation, gaining the necessary approvals by the NJDGE. This is not the first time that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has fined a group for breaking regulations. However, this is possibly the first time that the fine involves issues with geolocation and included untested software.
Back in October of last year, bwin.party was issued a fine of $10,000 for noncompliance to terms of based on the divestiture agreement due to a condition of licensing from 2013. Additional fines were issued to Caesars Interactive, Resorts Casino Hotel, Tropicana Casino and the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
$25,000 was paid by Caesars Interactive while $7,200 was paid by Resorts Casino Hotel for advertising to residents who have been placed on the self-exclusion list. $5,000 was paid by the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa as well as $2,200 paid by Tropicana Casino due to accepting wagers from gamblers who were under the age limits listed in regulations.
Operators have to be sure to adhere to regulations set forth by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement as well as regulating bodies in other states to ensure no fines or other penalties are put in place due to violating listed regulations. Operators tend to follow the strict guidelines set in place but issues happen in which fines are listed with the example being the most recent fine set by the NJDGE towards GameAccount Network.