Is online gambling legal in New Jersey? The laws, age limits, regulators and taxes

What’s legal, the age you need to be, and who is in charge differ by product. This page sets them out in one place.

Legal gambling in New Jersey by product, age limit and regulator

For every online product, you must be physically inside New Jersey. Where you live doesn’t matter, only where you are: a New Yorker or Pennsylvanian standing in New Jersey can play on NJ apps, but an NJ account won’t work once you cross into another state.

Who regulates NJ gambling: the DGE, Casino Control Commission and more

• Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE): part of the Attorney General’s office. It licenses and audits online casinos, sportsbooks and poker sites, investigates operators, tests games and runs the self-exclusion program.
• Casino Control Commission: an independent body that issues casino licenses and hears appeals of DGE decisions.
• New Jersey Racing Commission: oversees racetracks, pari-mutuel and fixed-odds horse betting, online racing accounts and off-track betting sites.
• Division of State Lottery: runs the NJ Lottery and registers lottery couriers.
• Division of Consumer Affairs: regulates daily fantasy sports and enforces the sweepstakes ban.

Every legitimate online casino or sportsbook in New Jersey displays its DGE licensing and Atlantic City partner. If a site doesn’t, or asks for crypto deposits, it isn’t licensed here.

New Jersey gambling taxes: the 19.75% operator rate and your winnings

Operators: from July 1, 2025, New Jersey taxes online casino and online sports betting revenue at 19.75%, up from 15% for online casinos and 13% for online sports betting. Fantasy operators pay a separate fee on their revenue.

Players: gambling winnings count as income in New Jersey. Lottery prizes are an exception to the general rule: the state taxes them only when a single prize is over $10,000, withholding 5% up to $500,000 and 8% above that. Federal tax applies on top.

A short history of legal gambling in NJ, from 1939 horse racing to today

• 1939: pari-mutuel horse betting is legalized; Monmouth Park opens in 1946.
• 1969–1970: voters approve a state lottery, and tickets go on sale in December 1970.
• 1976: after a failed statewide vote in 1974, voters approve casinos limited to Atlantic City.
• May 26, 1978: Resorts opens as Atlantic City’s first casino.
• 2011: voters back sports betting by about 65% to 35%, setting up the legal fight with the NCAA and the major leagues.
• February 26, 2013: Gov. Chris Christie signs the internet gaming law.
• November 26, 2013: online casinos and poker go live after a five-day soft launch.
• August 2017: daily fantasy sports law signed.
• May 14, 2018: in Murphy v. NCAA, the Supreme Court strikes down the federal sports betting ban.
• June 11, 2018: Gov. Phil Murphy signs sports betting into law; the first bets are taken days later.
• August 2021: fixed-odds horse betting legalized, a first in the US.
• November 2021: voters reject a ballot question to allow bets on New Jersey college teams.
• 2023: online gaming authorization extended to November 2028.
• July 2025: online casino and sports betting tax rises to 19.75%.
• August 15, 2025: sweepstakes casinos banned.
• April 2026: the Third Circuit rules New Jersey can’t regulate Kalshi’s sports contracts.
• September 2026: New Jersey asks the Supreme Court to hear the case.

Still banned: offshore sites, sweepstakes casinos and NJ college bets

• Betting on NJ college teams, or on any college game played in New Jersey, at a sportsbook.
• Sweepstakes casinos that let you redeem coins for cash or prizes.
• Offshore casinos and sportsbooks without a DGE license, however professional they look.
• Proxy betting, placing large bets for someone else in exchange for a share of the winnings.
• Using someone else’s betting account, or a VPN to fake your location. Licensed apps block VPNs and can close your account.

Responsible gambling help in NJ: 1-800-GAMBLER and self-exclusion

• 1-800-GAMBLER is run by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey: free, confidential and available 24/7.
• Self-exclusion: the DGE’s program lets you ban yourself from Atlantic City casinos, retail sportsbooks and all online gambling for one year, five years or life. Online-only exclusion for one or five years can be set up from your player account. The DGE’s self-exclusion line is 1-833-788-4DGE.
• Account limits: every licensed NJ site must let you set deposit, spending and time limits and take a cooling-off break.

New Jersey gambling laws FAQ