New Jersey has always had a pretty liberal attitude towards gambling, and the history here dates a long way back. It’s one of the states where the constitutional laws have a number of grey areas and loopholes, and as a result, it’s become one of the least restrictive places to gamble in the US.
The first laws came into effect when Atlantic City opened its first land-based casino in 1978, and since then it’s undergone a considerable expansion to allow many other forms of gambling.
In 2011, politician Raymond Lesniak helped to bring in a new legislative bill that would permit over 21s to gamble online legally. However, the condition of the new bill stipulated that all online casino operators must run their servers and market their sites within Atlantic City only. Governor Chris Christie rejected the bill to say that not every New Jersey wager placed should count as a bet placed in Atlantic City.
After a few changes were proposed, the new bill was officially approved in 2013. The legislation was amended to allow businesses in Atlantic City to promote online gambling under New Jersey, which meant gamblers could use their facilities and services provided the casinos were only operating within the state border. Even though approving the new bill meant that all online gambling sites were subject to a 10-year trial period, signing the new online gambling regulations was probably one of the best moves that New Jersey lawmakers could have made at the time.
The state’s online casino industry has created more than 6,500 jobs and generated a massive $2 billion in revenue between 2013 and 2018 – showing just how much it’s contributed to the economy.