New Jersey Gambling Age

Players have a few legal gambling restrictions, but the gambling age in NJ is among the most important. In this blog post, you will find details about the gambling age and a list of games 18 and 21 years old players can enjoy. Don’t skip checking the lists of the top gambling locations in the Garden State, and read the FAQ section at the end. Here are the main sections of this article:

History of New Jersey Gambling Laws

The legal gambling age in New Jersey had varied throughout the gambling history of the Garden State. For example, in the 1800s, many people regularly played raffle-like lottery games, and no one paid attention to the ticket buyer’s age because the funds were used to fund public building projects. During the following decades, gambling was banned only in underground mafia clubs.

The 1970s brought great changes with the creation of the state-run lottery and the construction of the Resorts Atlantic City. Now that New Jersey was the second state in the USA with a legal casino, besides Nevada, it was time to enforce strict measures towards the players. The first thing was to set the legal NJ gambling age to 18 years, and this age rate remained until 1983.

Players’ Gambling Age in New Jersey: 21 Years or 18 Years

Underage gambling in New Jersey was dealt with in 1983 with the Casino Control Act. The House and Senate ruled a change in the casino minimum gambling age to be 21, which is the same as the legal gambling age in the USA in all of the states. The law bans all players under 21 years from all Atlantic City casinos and any simulcast facilities.

Any violation of the legal gambling age in NJ leads to criminal charges (permanent criminal records), a fine ($500 – $1000), and driver’s license suspension for six months.

Underage gamblers of 17 years or younger without a driving license will receive it six months after the issuance date. Any person over 21 who forces or persuades underage individuals to gamble faces charges of a disorderly person’s offence.

The online gambling age in New Jersey is is applicable to the top New Jersey online casinos players. Further down, the article will list the different legal games and their age limits. Below, you will find the main gambling laws in the USA and New Jersey.

Gambling Laws in New Jersey & the USA

The New Jersey gambling age is one of the things listed as responsibilities of the DGE in our article dedicated to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

The main function of the division is to observe the proper application of the following federal and New Jersey gambling laws:

There are other gambling acts, rules, amendments, and regulations which we will not discuss in this blog post. Read them if you wish to learn more details about legal and illegal gambling activities. The latest New Jersey gambling legislation changes are the approval of online casinos, poker games, and sports betting.

Legal Gambling Age in NJ for Various Gambling Game

The rules for New Jersey players at Atlantic City casinos are different from the rules applied in lottery games, racetracks, or the best NJ online gambling sites. New Jersey’s gambling laws are leaders regarding the freedom of play, players’ age, and several legal games. In the table below, you will see different legal Garden State games and the required player’s age:

The law for online gambling age in New Jersey states that a player must be 21 years old to enjoy the best online casino slots in NJ. The same limitation is in power for the New Jersey sports betting age, all forms of poker and video poker, and all casino games.

Since underage gambling in New Jersey is a crime, many players turn to offshore online casinos. The young adults choose international operators allowing 18 years old players to access slots and the full range of casino or wagering games available on the site. We recommend checking the website’s licenses and avoiding illegal gambling games run by unlicensed operators.

Land-Based & Online Casinos for 21-Years-Old NJ Players

As we already mentioned, the mandatory gambling age in NJ for playing at a casino is 21. Anyone under this age can try the rest of the cool things to do in Atlantic City. Anyone else who is above the legal drinking and gambling age can play at the land-based and online casinos listed in the next sections of the blog post.

Top Brick-and-Mortar Gambling Locations in New Jersey

Occasionally the employees of the best Atlantic City casinos encounter underage players who try to bend or directly break the New Jersey gambling age rules.

They all were kicked out of the casino, and some even faced criminal charges. Avoid such hazardous ideas and wait until you are 21 years old to enter the casinos and racetracks in the Garden State:

All those gambling locations are great places to experience classic games and their modern versions in a real casino environment. If you meet the legal gambling age in NJ, you will also be able to take advantage of the different gifts and promotions. Some operators offer drinks by the table, while others create customised offers for their players and even grant a seat at the high-stakes tables.

Best New Jersey’s Online Casinos

It might be a pleasant surprise to learn that the top land-based casinos in New Jersey have online versions. The online gambling age in New Jersey is 21 years regardless of the type of wagering games.

You can read more about each of the following operators, as we have many highly informative NJ online casino reviews. Here are some of the most popular and safe online gambling sites in New Jersey:

The limitations in the gambling age New Jersey players must endure are created for their safety. The law considers people under 21 years of age easily persuaded and led towards reckless or frequent bets. That’s why the newest online casinos in New Jersey have strict underage policies and require age verification upon registration, and prior deposits or withdrawals.

Legal Age Gamblers’ Obligations

Playing at a casino, surrounded by friends, and with a drink in your hand is the image of the perfect 21st birthday in the USA for many young adults. The gambling age in New Jersey allows such an event to be organized even at home, where players can experience the best live casinos in New Jersey. Enjoy your time but don’t forget that besides rights, gamblers also have obligations.

Responsible Gambling

The NJ gambling age protects players, their caring loved ones and even the operators. The change in the age from 18 to 21 in the 1980s was made after a serious research study of what happens inside the brain of a gambling addict performed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Gambling addiction was classified as an impulse-control disorder and the study results were confirmed multiple times through the years and compared to similar research performed in other countries.

Government and health organizations agreed that this issue has to be dealt with, and this led to the creation of gambling addiction prevention organizations and helplines like:

Increasing the gambling age New Jersey players must meet was the first step towards ceasing the gambling addiction horror stories. Today, the helplines, organizations, therapy, and self-exclusion tools work in favor of players. Their relatives and friends can also contact the organizations and seek help from the gambler.

Winners Tax

Every player who has won at the top roulette casinos in New Jersey or at any other online or land-based gambling game must face another obligation – to pay New Jersey’s winners tax. The lottery winnings from $10,001 to $500,000 have a 5% tax, while all wins over $500,000 are taxable with an 8% winners tax.

Winners from other gambling and betting games pay a 3% tax when the prize exceeds a certain amount. For example, slot machines and bingo players pay winners tax for prizes exceeding $1200.

Keno game wins of at least $1500 are taxable, while horse racing winnings over $600 with a $2 wager or 300x of any larger bet are also taxable. Players who meet the NJ gambling age for poker tournaments, participate and win, also pay taxes. The 3% winners tax is calculated on prizes over $5000 after the amount of the buy-in is reduced. Alongside this, the New Jersey state allows requests for deducting the gambling losses.

Stick to the Laws & Good Manners

It should be clear by now that every person who reaches the gambling age in NJ is more than welcome to visit either one of the casinos or the rest of the gambling locations in the state.

This is the moment to remind you that having fun is important, but don’t forget that there are other people around you. It is best to show good manners and don’t break the laws even when we talk about the dumb laws in New Jersey.

New Jersey Gambling Age FAQ

Knowing the New Jersey gambling age before heading to a casino will spare you disappointment. We wrote this blog post to help many young people check if it is the time to gamble or if they must wait a bit more. Below, you can find answers to frequently asked questions regarding the legal gambling age in NJ.