NJ Gambling Age: Legal Age for New Jersey Casinos & Sports Betting

Known as the casino capital of the US’s eastern states, New Jersey has some of the most liberal gambling legislation in the country. With all forms of popular gambling legalized including casinos, sports betting, lottery, pari-mutuel betting and Daily Fantasy Sports, fans of gambling will be spoiled for choice when wagering in The Garden State.

New Jersey is also home to one of the most famous gambling cities in the world, Atlantic City, which draws in millions of tourists each year who visit to enjoy the cities nine casinos and the liberal gambling laws. While the Garden State does have liberal gaming laws the New Jersey gambling age for the most popular forms of betting are quite conservative compared to other neighbouring states.

In the table above the we have outlined the legal gambling age for each type of betting in New Jersey. For casinos and sports betting the legal NJ gambling age is 21, while for bingo, state lottery, Daily Fantasy Sports and pari-mutuel sports betting the legal gambling age in New Jersey is 18.

In the sections below we will go into more detail regarding the legal status of each form of gambling in New Jersey, as well as discussing the legal gambling age associated with each. We will also discuss the history of gambling within the Garden State and look to the future by highlighting any potential upcoming legal changes to the gambling landscape.

Casino Age in New Jersey

As mentioned in our introduction to New Jersey, the Garden State is known as the capital of gambling for the East Coast. At last count there are nine commercial casinos operating in Atlantic City. The Casino Age in New Jersey is the same for all casinos, and is set at 21.

Casinos have operated in New Jersey since commercial casino gambling was legalized in 1976. Under the legislation that legalized commercial gambling in New Jersey, casinos were limited to Atlantic City. In effect this legislation caused Atlantic City to become the world famous gambling destination it is today with the size of the city’s casinos rivalling those found in Las Vegas.

All nine casinos operating in Atlantic City are so popular with New Jersey residents and tourists alike as they offer all the casino classics including Black Jack, Roulette, Poker, Slot Machines and more offering the full casino gambling experience.

The legal New Jersey gambling age for casinos is set to 21 as this is also the legal drinking age across the US. Under the commercial gambling laws, casinos in New Jersey are able to serve complimentary drinks to gamblers on the game floor. By having the legal entry age mirror the US drinking age casinos avoid any issues with potentially serving drinks to underage minors.

While New Jersey is still the hub for gambling on the East Coast of the US, neighbouring states are liberalising their gambling laws – which includes legalizing commercial land-based and online casino gambling. While Atlantic City remains the destination for casino gambling, the new liberalisation of gambling across neighbouring states could impact the casino gambling market if residents of these neighbour states no longer have to cross over the border to New Jersey to get their casino gambling fix.

What are The Casinos In New Jersey that accept 18 year Olds?

There are no casinos in New Jersey that accept 18 year olds. All casinos operating in Atlantic City have a strict casino age limit of 21. New Jersey residents who are 18 shouldn’t be disheartened though, there are still other forms of gambling they can enjoy in the Garden State. The legal NJ gambling age for all of the following is 18; bingo, state lottery, Daily Fantasy Sports and pari-mutuel betting.

For those who are above the age of 21 and want to gamble at one of Atlantic City’s famous casinos, we’ve pulled together a list of the addresses of the top eight commercial casinos currently in operation.

Sports Betting In New Jersey

New Jersey is known as the market leader when it comes to sports betting. New Jersey was instrumental in overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act 1992 (PASPA) in 2018 as it was the state that brought the legal challenge that ultimately overturned it. After PASPA was overturned in 2018 New Jersey was one of the first states to legislate for Sports Betting’s legality, and it was made legal in 2018 with a legal betting age of 21.

Both online and in person sports betting is legal in New Jersey, in fact New Jersey was the first state in the US to legalize online sports betting. This comes as no surprise when you realise how many sports fanatics reside in the Garden State, with several world-famous professional sports teams just a stone’s throw away in neighbouring states New York and Pennsylvania. As evidence of New Jersey’s full support of sports betting, in the first six months of sports betting being legal over $1 billion was wagered through online and in person operators.

Pari-mutuel betting is also legal in New Jersey and has been since 1939 when it was legalized by the state legislature. The Garden State has a long history with horse racing with three major racetracks located in the state and even an annual horse race on New Jersey beach. The gambling age for pari-mutuel betting is 18 in New Jersey. Pari-mutuel bets on horse races can be placed in person at one of the state’s race tracks or at one of several off-track betting halls located across the state.

With all forms of sports betting legal in New Jersey, including Daily Fantasy Sports which we will discuss in more detail later, there doesn’t seem to be any further legal developments that can be made in this gambling arena. With hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue being generated by sports betting each year New Jersey just needs to sit back and enjoy it.

NJ Online Gambling Age

Another area in which New Jersey has been a market leader in the gambling industry is online casino gambling. Online casino gambling has been legal in New Jersey for those over the age of 21 in 2013. Since its legalization online casino gambling has fast become a favoured form of gambling for New Jersey residents, and has led to a rapid increase in casino gambling revenue across the state.

All the casino classics are available to play at New Jersey’s online casinos including Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Slots, Poker (which we will discuss in more detail later) and many more. One of the only restrictions for online casino operators setting up in New Jersey is that each online casino must have a land-based casino partner in order operate within the state boarders. This could be why the online gambling age in New Jersey is 21, as it is then the same as the legal land-based casino age minimum in New Jersey.

While the legal online casino gambling age in New Jersey is 21, residents might come across some offshore gambling websites that are able to be used by 18 year olds. While this might seem appealing there are a few things residents should consider before gambling on such websites. None of these websites are registered or licensed in the US and are therefore not governed by any commercial laws. This means that if players have any issues they will not be covered by any of New Jersey’s or federal consumer protection laws, and therefore have no recourse to claim back any money they might lose should something go wrong.

While New Jersey residents under the age of 21 might be disheartened that they cannot legally gamble online, there are still several forms of gambling that they can get involved with. To check what forms of gambling are open to 18 year olds in New Jersey take a look at our gambling ages table in the top section of this page.

Online Poker/Poker Gambling Age

As poker forms an important part of both land-based and online casino gambling residents of New Jersey are very safe in assuming that both are legal in the Garden State. With both forms of poker having been legal for several years in New Jersey, poker has developed an almost cult following amongst local fans of the game. In line with all other casino gambling in New Jersey the legal gambling age for poker is 21.

For those wanting to enjoy online poker almost all online casinos operating in New Jersey offer some form of poker for players to enjoy. Further, New Jersey has teamed up with other liberal gambling states, Nevada and Delaware, to offer pooled online poker games in which residents of all three states can play each other.

For those who want to play poker in person all nine of Atlantic City’s commercial casinos offer poker rooms, and several off-site card rooms offer live poker games. These card rooms are registered to operate so long as the house does not take a stake in the game.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Daily Fantasy Sports has been legal in New Jersey since 2017 and is open to players above the age of 18. New Jersey was the 16th state in the US to legalize Daily Fantasy Sports, prior to its legalization Daily Fantasy Sports languished in a weird area of implied legality for several years.

Once New Jersey’s legislature realized how lucrative taxes placed on Daily Fantasy Sports operators could be it rushed through legislation legalizing it. To date all operators in New Jersey must pay a 10.5% tax each year on all revenue generated via New Jersey residents, as Daily Fantasy Sports is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the US this is incredibly lucrative for the state.

Legal Age to Play the Lottery in New Jersey

New Jersey’s state lottery is one of the oldest in the US. The state lottery was instated in 1969, and the legal gambling age for residents to participate is 18. With all popular forms of lottery on offer, the state lottery has become a state institution with several huge lottery wins being handed out over the years.

New Jersey’s Lottery is run by NJ Lottery, who not only manage the running of the lottery games but also help to distribute the revenue generated to state education programs and institutions. Since it began operating in 1969 the state lottery has distributed over $1 billion to state beneficiaries.

One area in which New Jersey’s lottery has not diversified is offering an online lottery. Players can purchase tickets via an NJ Lottery app, but the tickets purchased are physical ones that are then couriered to the buyers. With many other surrounding states adopting an online lottery format, it would seem fitting that New Jersey would stick to its forward-thinking approach and legalize an online lottery soon.

New Jersey Gambling Laws & Future Outlook

New Jersey’s gambling laws can be found in the state legislature, these governing laws provide the backbone to all gambling legislation in the Garden State. Under New Jersey law gambling is considered, ‘Unlicensed risking of something of value upon outcome of contest of chance or future contingent event not under actor’s control, upon agreement that actor will receive something of value in event of a certain outcome’. If one was to apply this definition to all popular forms of gambling discussed on this page, all could be considered gambling.

As all gambling is considered a criminal offence under New Jersey law, if the law was to be taken at face value, New Jersey’s legislature has entered in additional laws that legalize the forms of gambling as exceptions to the general rule.

The gambling market in New Jersey is extremely healthy, as discussed above all forms of legalized gambling perform very well in the Garden State. With the advent of online gambling, the revenue gambling economy in New Jersey grew exponentially with it still seeing on average a steady 9% growth year on year.

There are taxes on gambling winnings in New Jersey. In general gambling winnings are considered personal income and are therefore taxed at each individual’s personal income rate. However, some forms of gambling require additional tax be paid if a player wins above a certain threshold. Any winnings in the state lottery above $5,000 are subject to a 25% federal tax the same applies to Daily Fantasy Sports winnings above $600.

New Jersey is the heart of gambling on the East Coast of the US, with the most liberal gambling laws in the country it remains the market leader in state gambling economies. With all forms of popular gambling legal in the Garden State it is often used as an example by other states looking to further liberalise their gambling laws.

There is no real change on the horizon for New Jersey’s gambling laws. With all forms of gambling are widely supported by the public at large and are still drawing in a large amount of revenue for the state each year, it looks like New Jersey will continue with the status quo for now.

Frequently Asked Questions

We hope that this page has provided you with a good overview of New Jersey’s current gambling laws, including the legal gambling age required to participate in all legal forms of gambling. If you still have any questions take a look at the answers to our most frequently asked questions below. To see how this bastion of betting compares to other states across America, visit our homepage.