New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is a governmental agency in New Jersey, created to oversee and regulate all forms of gambling.

The DGE aims to help legitimate, licensed operators thrive, while clamping down on illegitimate, unlicensed operations.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at who the DGE are, what they do, and what the details of their complaints procedure looks like.

About The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement

The DGE was established in 1977 under the Casino Control Act, N.J.S.A 5:12-1 et seq. It was formed to regulate and ensure the integrity of the casino gaming industry in the state of New Jersey, and they work hard to ensure a safe, crime-free gaming environment for players.

The DGE has a number of responsibilities, including:

Investigating License Applications: Any operator wanting to offer casino games for real-money must apply for, and receive a license from the DGE. The Division conducts thorough investigations of all license applications, and before a decision is made, the Division reports directly to the Casino Control Commission (CCC) on its findings. A decision is then made as to whether to issue a license or not.
Regulatory Enforcement: The DGE is responsible for ensuring licensees are following the laws of the Casino Control Act, and they work alongside law enforcement to take action against any operators who aren’t.
Monitoring Casino Operations: the DGE investigates day-to-day casino operations, to ensure that all license holders are adhering to the terms of their licenses. When the DGE finds instances of operators breaking the terms of their licenses, the concerns are handed to the New Jersey State Police, and prosecuted by the Division of Criminal Justice’s Casino Prosecutions Bureau.
Slot Laboratory – Technical Services Bureau: The Technical Services Bureau (TSB) is the official testing house for slot machine games offered by operators licensed by the DGE.

License Requirements

All licensed operators are required to adhere to a number of regulations. Like most regulators, the DGE ensures that all licensees are following all relevant laws and regulations.

One of the most notable license requirements now in force, is that all operators must join a self-exclusion database. This gives players the chance to self-exclude from all operators who hold a license from the DGE.

All games offered by an operator must also be independently tested. This is to ensure their fairness, and the DGE has its own testing house.

Top DGE Licensed Casinos

There aren’t too many online casinos licensed by the DGE – yet – but you can view some of the top-rated sites below:

How To Check If a License is Valid

All sites that have been issued with a license from the DGE must display the DGE’s seal at the bottom of their website. The DGE also maintain an up-to-date list of licensees at their website. Any operator not on this list is not approved to offer online gambling services in New Jersey.

You can view the list of approved internet gaming sites here.

Complaints Procedure

If a player has a complaint, regarding an operator licensed by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, players must, in the first instance, try to resolve the complaint directly with the operator in question.

If the player’s complaint isn’t sorted this way, they can lodge an official dispute with the DGE, and this is done through their website. To find out more about the DGE’s disputes procedure, and to file a complaint, you can learn more about it here.