A gambler from Nevada was able to play on a New Jersey online casino which has resulted in a $25,000 fine for Gaming Innovation Group.
According to the New Jersey Division of Gambling Enforcement, the gambler was able to access Hard Rock Atlantic City’s online casino to inspect the browser code and change data to falsely indicate that the patron was located in New Jersey. GIG runs the Hard Rock’s online geolocation platform.
The incident dates back to July 2018—the first week the Hard Rock’s online site went live—and was found during a check of the system. Ultimately the gambler lost $29 at the site.
“This one-off single incidence of out-of-state gambling was due to a technical vulnerability which was quickly discovered and reported to the regulator in New Jersey in the first week the company went live in New Jersey,” Gaming Innovation said in a press statement. “An end user from outside the state of New Jersey with technical knowledge managed to access the front-end debugger to change the location and pretend to be from New Jersey.”
The company said it maintains controls to make sure it complies with regulations “at all times.”
Online gamblers in New Jersey must be physically located in the state while playing.
In a separate enforcement action, the division fined the Borgata casino $7,500 for taking prohibited sports bets In December.
The casino accepted bets on two college basketball games, Clemson vs. Mississippi State, and Connecticut vs. Florida State. Both games were played at the Prudential Center in Newark.
State law prohibits betting on New Jersey college teams, or any college games held within the state.
