All legal and responsible gaming institutions including those of New Jersey go out of their way for patron protection. Mainly from abusive gambling habits that can harm either themselves and their families or their friends and work colleagues.
Taking into account the regulations issued by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), the following pages may assist you to gain valuable information with regard to Patron Protection in the Garden State
Sportsbook Responsibilities
Without exception, all legal Sportsbook operators in New Jersey have undertaken to provide a responsible gaming environment and part of doing so includes offering punters advice and assistance if or when they find they have a gambling problem.
Know When To Stop
The 888sport’s tip “Know when to stop before you start®” probably best reflects the kind of keynote advice you will get from each and every one of the other sportsbooks that were operating in New Jersey in January 2019, including Sugarhouse, DraftKings, FanDuel, BetStars, PlayMGM, William Hill, and Caesars
You should always think of sports betting and gambling as a form of entertainment that you can afford.
It should be planned and budgeted for just as you would for a concert, a big football match, an evening out at the theatre or for a dinner date at an exclusive restaurant.
Times When You Should Not Gamble
There are times when you should never gamble. It is illegal to do so while undergoing treatment for addictive disorders or dependencies and gambling when under the influence of drugs or alcohol is unwise because your judgment will be impaired.
Similarly, you should avoid gambling when you are stressed, emotionally angry or depressed and under no circumstances should you gamble in the hope that it will help you solve personal, family or business problems, most notably with debt.
If you do run into a problem with betting or gambling, please remember that you can always get some wise counseling if you contact either the Council on Compulsive Gambling New Jersey or the National Council on Problem Gambling.
Set Limits
As is the case with so many things in life, moderation is the key. You should gamble only with money you can afford to lose. Time and monetary limits should be set even before you start to gamble and they should always be adhered to.
The story of the gambler who wins big, but never knows when to stop and loses it all is as old as time itself.
Limits will differ, of course, from person to person, according to their financial situations. A player can establish his own limits by developing a set of personal guidelines to determine whether, when, and how much to gamble.
Most of the world’s best legal sportsbooks and Casinos – including those in New Jersey – now offer a facility that enables bettors to set limits on their sportsbook accounts (a ‘playing-time limit’, a ‘deposit limit’ and a ‘loss limit’ are the most common) or you can purposefully exclude yourself from gambling for a specified ‘cooling off’ period or on a permanent basis.
Time Limit
A punter may set daily playing time limits with the sportsbook or books with whom he is wagering and he will automatically be notified by pop-ups on his screen when these limits have been reached
Deposit Limits
A player may also set a limit to the amount he can deposit into his account, either on a rolling 24-hour, a rolling seven-day or a rolling 30-day period (the rolling
Period meaning that his deposit limit will always be calculated by looking back at the past 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days).
When a player reaches this deposit limit, he/she will receive a pop-up notification advising him that he can no longer make any further deposits into his account until his next rolling daily, weekly or monthly time period begins.
Loss Limits
In order to restrict the amount of money he loses, a player may also set a loss limit.
In this case, the limit can be set for a calendar 24-hour day beginning at 12 am, a Calendar 7-day week beginning Monday at 12 am or a Calendar month beginning on Day 1 of the month at 12 am
Loss is calculated on the basis of player’s winnings minus his losses during the applicable period and as soon as his loss limit is reached, a pop-up will advise the losing punter that he cannot play for real money anymore until a new loss-limit period has been set.
Cooling-Off Time
If players merely wish to take a break from gambling, most legal gambling operators will officially grant them a ‘cooling off’ break of between 2, and 6 months
An email to or a live chat with one of the representatives of the 24/7 customer care facility of your sportsbook/casino will do the trick.
During the ‘cooling-off’ period your account will be suspended and your sportsbook or casino will take ‘all reasonable measures’ to make sure the player does not receive promotional offers.
Although a player may withdraw his remaining bankroll during this ‘cooling off’ period’, the suspension is irrevocable until it ends at which stage the players account will automatically be re-opened
Self-Exclusion
If at any stage, a player begins to worry about his gambling habits, he can make a request online to be ‘self-excluded’ for periods of 1 or 5 years.
To permanently self-exclude himself he will need to present himself in person at a brick and mortar location designated by the NJDGE.
When a punter self-excludes himself, his sportsbook/casino will immediately block his account. Should he attempt to open another account during his spell of self-exclusion that too will be blocked?
When a player self-excludes himself, the NJDGE is automatically authorized to direct all New Jersey Internet gaming licensed permit holders to restrict his gaming activities in accordance with his request.
And he is only able to remove himself from the Self-Exclusion List by appearing in person at one of the NJDGE Offices or at the offices of a racetrack associated to the New Jersey Racing Commission.
A warning! A request for permanent self-exclusion is irrevocable, and the player’s account will not be eligible for reinstatement.
if a sportsbook/casino decides there is a reasonably strong risk that a player will not gamble responsibly and refuses to self-limit or self-exclude himself, it reserves the right to exclude such a player from all casino properties and online sites which it owns, operates or manages.
Under-age Gambling
It is a criminal offense in New Jersey for persons under the age of 21 to gamble. Anyone who assists an under-aged gambler will also be considered to have committed a criminal offense, may be prosecuted and shall be prohibited from any further Internet gaming.
The State’s Sportsbooks all use electronic verification to validate the age and identity of their customers and reserve the right to suspend a player’s account until this information has been provided.
Occasionally (very occasionally) the system fails to pick up an underage gambler so if you know of any, be assured that each and every one of the New Jersey sportsbooks will all be grateful if you advise them of the breach so they can immediately terminate the lawbreaker’s account.
How To Prevent Children From Betting Online
Responsible gaming operators make it their business to ensure that parents understand the importance of preventing their underage children from gambling online.
To keep online gambling out of the hands of the under-21s it is recommended that parents install special filtering software that blocks minors from accessing certain websites and programs.
Other Tips For Parents
Do not leave children unattended near your computer, tablet or smartphone when you are logged into any Casino, poker or sports-betting site.
Do not allow persons under 21 to share your gambling activities.
Always keep your casino/sportsbooks’ usernames, passwords, and deposit method details out of sight and out of the reach of minors.
Point out to your children that underage gambling is a criminal offense and underline the potential dangers they face if they do attempt to participate in it.
Gambling Can Impact Your Life
Gambling can have a negative impact on people’s lives. Here we detail some of these negatives
It can cost you more money and more time than you can afford and, in doing so, cause you to neglect your family and your friends.
It can affect your health through stress and anxiety, cause you to lose your self-esteem and leave you carrying feelings of guilt.
You can become addicted to it and begin making bigger and bigger bets to help keep the rush going.
Do You Have A Gambling Problem?
If you think you do, you should not hesitate to seek professional help.
If you are not sure, following are some questions you might want to ask yourself.
This is not an official psychological or medical test, but it does include some questions answered by troubled gamblers on helplines and may help steer you in the right direction if the “yes” answers are in abundance.
Do you take off time from work to gamble?
Is gambling affecting your home life?
Do you ever gamble in the hope that it will help you pay off debts?
Has gambling lowered your life’s expectations and ambitions?
After a winning wager, do you have a strong urge to try and win some more?
And after a losing wager, do you have urges to try to win back the money you have lost?
Do you often gamble until your last cent has gone?
Have you ever borrowed money or sold personal property to fund your gambling?
Similarly, have you ever committed or considered committing a crime to do it?
And would you be able to give up gambling if it threatens your family’s welfare?
Now count your yes answers and take it from there.
