The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement this week released another round of regulatory fines related to online gambling.
DraftKings was fined $10,000 by the state’s gambling regulator for sending “promotional mailings” to 11 self-excluded gamblers, which is prohibited. DraftKings offers both sports betting and online casino in the state.
DraftKings was fined $3,000 last month in Indiana for a similar violation of advertising to 15 self-excluded players. In February, DraftKings was fined $500 in New Jersey for marketing to an undisclosed number of self-excluded players, as well as players with accounts in “cooled-off” status.
The online gambling firm has had at least three such fines in 2021. DraftKings is live in 11 states.
This type of violation has been seen multiple times before in New Jersey, so DraftKings isn’t the first to be cited. It more than likely won’t be the last.
In New Jersey, people may self-exclude from online gambling for as little as one full year before returning to action. A lifetime option is also available.
DraftKings wasn’t the only company to be fined in this week’s DGE batch of regulatory notices.
GAN Plc, which is an online gambling supplier in the Garden State, was fined $2,000 for allowing self-excluded gamblers to create accounts and wager. More than $20,000 was won from some of those players, and GAN was ordered to disgorge that amount.
Scientific Games was fined $500 by the DGE for allowing an “unverified patron” to gamble, which likely means something went wrong with the identity verification process. The notice didn’t state if the player was self-excluded or under the age of 21.
How serious is advertising to self-excluded players?
Potentially very serious.
As we stated, you can self-exclude for as little as a year, so if an online gambling brand continues sending you material they may be able to get your action if/when you return to gambling. It’s known that most bettors don’t use more than a couple brands for their betting.
The fines against DraftKings did not state that the marketing was an intentional business decision.
Regardless, mailings to patrons who self-excluded could lead to problem gambling in another state. States don’t share their respective gambling self-exclusion lists, so if you self-excluded in New Jersey you would still be able to travel to another state to wager.
