New Jersey Online Casinos – An Inside Look At The Garden State’s Casino Gambling Industry
New Jersey is the most welcoming US state when it comes to domestic gambling. Not only was NJ the force behind PASPA’s 2018 overturn, it has also embraced full online gambling within state lines. New Jersey online casinos are hosted by every domestic operator, and legal online gambling extends to NJ sports betting, NJ poker, and NJ horse betting, too. However, those allowances extend only to in-state online casinos and betting markets.
If you want to save money at legal offshore casinos (NJ keeps gaming margins high to support Atlantic City gambling venues), the state really frowns on that. For all practical purposes, international online New Jersey casinos – while a great option in every other state – are not recommended in NJ. In other words, for a fun night out with friends, brick-and-mortar casinos in Atlantic City are just the ticket, while more casual gamblers are best served by domestic NJ online casinos.
Is Online Gambling Legal In New Jersey As Of 2024?
Yes! All forms of New Jersey online gambling are legal at the domestic level. In fact, online casinos in New Jersey are credited with giving Atlantic City a much-needed shot in the arm, extending each AC casino’s reach considerably. It’s been a big win.
But if you want a bigger win, you may need to look elsewhere. Casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, have a lot of money to make before they'll fully recover from over two decades of poor performance, and that means big betting premiums. But unfortunately, cheaper online NJ casino games can't be readily accessed via non-domestic NJ online casinos.
To be clear: There are no New Jersey gambling laws or US gambling laws against joining these sites, but you can only access the best online casinos "in" NJ when you're outside of NJ. Most legit offshore casinos have informal agreements with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) to bar state residents signing up.
So although it's not a crime to join such sites, these NJ gambling rules can make it very difficult to claim payouts from an in-state address. You do have the option of traveling across the border and betting at these venues once you're in another state, but since the top international casino services use Know Your Customer (KYC) standards when issuing winnings, you'd need a legitimate out-of-state mailing address.
Note: The legal gambling age in New Jersey is 21+ for in-person and online casino gambling, but most international casinos have 18+ age minimums. Given that surrounding states with legal casino gambling also have 21-and-up age minimums, this is one of the most compelling reasons to go through the rigmarole of gambling offshore outside of NJ proper.
Are There Legal NJ Online Casinos That Are Safe To Play At?
You know it! Naturally, the state-regulated New Jersey online casino options available to you are going to be extremely safe. They’re heavily regulated and work more or less like banks or stock exchanges in terms of how they’re allowed to handle your funds.
There are legitimate offshore online casinos, however, the state of NJ has worked hard to make access to these sites next to impossible. If you look hard enough, you'll find there are a few top-tier sites that are not state-regulated and that still accept NJ players.
New Jersey Mobile Casinos
Because local New Jersey casino operators are licensed domestically, Apple and Google allow them to host native apps in the App Store and on Google Play. These New Jersey casino apps are slick and expertly designed, but they’re also geofenced. That means you can’t play any real-money gambling games (or bet on sports or enter online New Jersey poker tournaments) when you’re outside state lines.
If you gamble regularly but also travel on a consistent basis, that’s a huge problem with the domestic market. But if you join one of the best New Jersey online casinos that operates outside the US, there’s no geofencing at all! In fact, this lack of geofencing is exactly what makes international New Jersey online gambling accessible in the first place, since you have to be outside state borders to play. In NJ, offshore gambling is reverse geofenced!
NJ Online Gambling Strategy 101: If you live in NJ but regularly travel outside the state for work, play, etc., we strongly recommend joining both a domestic New Jersey casino site and an international online NJ casino site. This way, you can play with local venues when you're at home, and you can play with overseas venues when you're on the road.
On the technical side, because all the top NJ casinos we recommend use web-based technology to bring you their games and other betting markets right through your mobile web browser, you never have to worry about app downloads, updates, security patches, and so on.
Any device works – from the smallest iPhone to the biggest iPad and all the Androids in between – and all you need is an active Internet connection. It turns out that the best NJ betting apps aren’t even apps at all!
Online Casino Games In New Jersey
According to New Jersey online gambling laws, when you play locally, all games are on the table – and not just casino table games! From New Jersey online casino slots and New Jersey online blackjack games to baccarat, keno, bingo, craps, and online roulette, NJ gamblers have literally the entire menu of classics to choose from.
- Online Slot Machines (3-Reel, 5-Reel, 3D, iSlots)
- Online Progressive Slots (aka Jackpot Slots)
- Online Blackjack Games (Single-Deck, Double-Deck, 6-Deck, 8-Deck)
- Online Roulette Games (American and European)
- Online Baccarat + Mini-Bac
- Online Video Poker Games
- Online Keno + Craps + Bingo
- Online Lotteries
- Online Raffles
- Online Pull-Tabs + Scratch-Offs
- Online Live Casino Games
New Jersey Online Live-Dealer Casino Games
Despite the convenience of online gambling, one major negative has long been that the market simply couldn’t compete with live in-person gambling featuring real dealers on real casino floors. And even though – in some ways – that’s still true, online gambling has come a long way.
The technology is there to finally give players access to real live-dealer casino gambling right through their computers and mobile devices, with full live video and audio to enhance the experience. You can pull up a seat at the digital felts and play in front of an actual dealer or croupier. You can even use your site’s built-in chat function to talk with these folks and shoot the breeze with other players at the table.
While local New Jersey gambling sites do have live-dealer play, they don’t have as much of it as the their offshore competitors. Further, with legal offshore NJ casinos, you can actually spectate the live games, which is something domestic NJ casino apps don’t allow. This feature is a major win for new players who want to watch how each of the following games works before risking any actual cash.
(Spectator mode is also available even when you're inside NJ borders. When it comes to offshore gaming, the only thing you can't do inside the state is actively collect your winnings.)
- Live Dealer Blackjack
- Live Dealer Roulette
- Live Dealer Baccarat
- Live Dealer Super 6
Note: NJ live online casinos might let you watch for free, but they don’t let you play for free. These are paid games only. If you want to play free online casino games, you’ll have to stick with the electronic or RNG options at your NJ offshore casino(s) of choice.
Brick-And-Mortar Casinos In New Jersey
You already know that there are legit online casinos in New Jersey in both the local and offshore markets. (Or, more accurately in the case of the latter, there are legit online casinos near New Jersey.) And that’s all well and good. But sometimes when you want to enjoy real New Jersey gambling, online gambling just isn’t quite right.
When you're in the mood to enjoy a great steak, drink a few craft beers, and play a few rounds of blackjack before taking in a world-class show, the only way to roll is to roll the dice in Atlantic City itself.
To that end, there are nine world-class venues on the official list of casinos in Atlantic City, and you can legitimately visit every one of them in a single night. The Atlantic City casino district has been given new life of late, and while we’ll always prefer the online game, it’s nice that the retail game is finally starting to meet its potential in NJ.
There are no New Jersey Indian casinos, as there are no federally recognized Indian tribes in NJ. While that could change in the future, right now, Indian casinos in New Jersey are not expected to open any time soon.
That said, two commercial NJ casinos – the Hard Rock Atlantic City and the Resorts Casino Hotel – are owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida and operated by the Mohegan Tribe (Connecticut), respectively.
Gambling Resources For New Jersey Residents
Our introduction to legal NJ online gambling is reasonably detailed, but if you’d like more information about specific New Jersey casino laws, the following links to the current New Jersey Revised Statutes (NJRS) and other resources should offer more insight.
- NJRS 2C:37-1 et seq. – Title 2C: “The New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice”; Penalties for illegal gambling
- NJRS 5:5-22 et seq. – Title 5: “Amusements, Public Exhibitions and Meetings”; New Jersey horse racing betting laws
- NJ A2578 (2013) – Legalized domestic online casino gambling, allowed NJ casinos to host real-money online casino games.
Note: Regarding NJ A2578, New Jersey online sports betting was also technically legalized via the law, but this led to the Murphy vs. NCAA Supreme Court case that eventually resulted in the PASPA law's elimination. For all practical purposes, NJ sports betting was not be legalized until August 2018, three months after NJ won the landmark Supreme Court betting case.
Gambling is for entertainment only. If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling addiction, the state has several helpful services available at no cost. We recommend contacting the New Jersey chapter of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Please play responsibly.