The two bills would shake up the responsible gaming requirements at casinos
New Jersey Senator John McKeon is sponsoring legislation to protect patrons of the state’s retail casinos. S3062 and S3063 will tackle what the lawmaker believes is a lack of consumer safeguards at land-based venues in the state.
The bills were introduced after BetMGM was accused of failing to properly screen a customer with a gambling addiction who used stolen funds to play on its mobile app.
Sam A. Antar is a recovering addict who served prison time for defrauding clients and using the funds to gamble at BetMGM. However, after his release, he was targeted in a BetMGM online casino bonus promotion. His lawsuit against the casino has since been dismissed.
McKeon introduced the bills in early April. S3062 would prohibit casinos from offering free games that prompt users to continue playing other games of chance. It also seeks to restrict marketing gimmicks that solicit players to participate in future gambling activity.
McKeon explained that these free games use similar odds and features to provoke customers to bet real money. Because they’re non-gambling games, vulnerable individuals such as minors and those at high risk of addiction could be drawn to them before playing real money games.
S3063 seeks to make it the casino’s responsibility to screen customers appropriately and not allow problem gamblers and individuals on self-exclusion lists to play at their venues. The bill’s language refers to this practice as “reckless indifference or intentional misconduct,” meaning that McKeon’s bill will hold casinos responsible for not taking adequate precautions.
While the bills concentrate on retail casinos, they could be the beginning of stricter consumer protection standards in the gambling industry.
