“Unscrupulous operators” — that’s the language New Jersey’s attorney general’s office used as the state confronts reports that some of its online gambling operators have used controversial tactics to take their booty from users.
Not offshore, but New Jersey’s legal gambling sites that won $3.13 billion from January through September of this year, according to state figures.
Corrupt, deceitful, crooked are the vibes New Jersey is apparently feeling toward its licensed operators. That’s a remarkable shift in sentiment roughly eight years into regulating online sports betting and about 13 years into its online casino gambling market.
The “unscrupulous” characterization comes from an Oct. 20 announcement that the state is making changes it believes will meaningfully reduce online gambling-related harm.
“New Jersey will continue to consider ways to adjust and strengthen State regulations to ensure it is protecting people from unscrupulous operators,” the announcement read.
Stoking the Coals
Hardline critics argue online gambling could never be properly regulated in the U.S., and the state’s use of “unscrupulous” gives that position ammo. Other public health advocates say federal online sports gambling regulation could make the products truly safer. This also fuels those policy reform fires.
That said, New Jersey does not see its licensed operators as equivalent to offshore gambling sites, many of which have been linked to predatory practices and other alleged criminal activity.
Even so, these are strong words from the state that spearheaded efforts to overturn PASPA, the federal prohibition on sports gambling outside Nevada. Former Gov. Chris Christie, who led the state’s legal fight, has also called the proliferation of online sports betting “a little bit disturbing.”
Regret over online gambling policy seems contagious these days.
Though he wasn’t involved in gambling policy, former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who was the nation’s highest-ranking doctor when the Supreme Court overturned the sports betting prohibition, has called online betting the “new opioid crisis.”
Regulation Changes
These are the harshest words I can recall from New Jersey since it castigated its licensed operators in 2021 for tactics allegedly designed to get customers to cancel withdrawals and keep gambling. Here, New Jersey’s licensed operators seemed to borrow from the offshore playbook.
In the wake of the latest controversies, including viral and damaging reports from The New York Times, ProPublica, and CBS, New Jersey announced new “mandatory patron play thresholds and behavioral triggers to help identify patrons who may need support.”
These rules had been in the works for at least a year, as I reported on in September 2025.
The “three phases of interventions” may add friction for some users, but operators still make the problematic gambling assessments that shape how they apply the rules.
For example, depositing more than $100,000 over 90 days triggers a review, but not necessarily an intervention. The operator determines whether the customer is exhibiting signs of problem gambling. In other words, the company profiting from the gambling still decides whether the gambling is worrisome.
Even visiting the self-exclusion page three times in 30 days without signing up triggers a mere review, not an automatic intervention.
What’s also new here is that New Jersey said these “responsible gaming best practices” are now uniform across its licensed online gambling marketplace and a “regulatory enforceable standard.”
In other words, operators could face monetary penalties for violating the new requirements, including restrictions on marketing to customers classified as at risk and assigned to certain intervention phases. To prevent coverups, operators must maintain detailed records of all interventions for five years.
It’s worth noting a recent, potentially illustrative example of why New Jersey may need an official “standard.” Going back to the recent CBS report: The news organization reported that FanDuel, which said it already intervenes with users exhibiting problem gambling, only suspended a Virginia user after CBS aired a report that highlighted his problematic gambling.
Bottom Line
These regulatory changes can sound vague and maze-like, and they don’t get to the root of the problem.
Even so, these New Jersey changes could make a difference for someone, potentially saving a life. It would be an exaggeration to dismiss what New Jersey has done as meaningless.
However, the foxes are still guarding the henhouse.
Meanwhile, this new uniformity and regulatory enforceability come amid a legal battle between the state and prediction markets, which do not follow any New Jersey rules. New Jersey’s licensed operators do face stiff competition from gambling firms outside the state’s jurisdiction.
In other words, cutting off their biggest gambling losers could hurt their businesses at an especially competitive time.
Ultimately, New Jersey has a financial interest in maintaining a growing online gambling industry, even as it says it’s trying to protect people from harm. These changes could be seen as a sustainability effort. But when we’re talking about a product as harmful as online gambling, sustainability is noisome.
