PokerStars has been fined $10,000 for violating New Jersey’s prohibition of accepting bets on games involving state college teams.
The state Division of Gaming Enforcement said PokerStars accepted 216 wagers on a game involving Rutgers and Eastern Michigan University totaling more than $2,700. The company also accepted a single bet on a game involving Monmouth University and the University of Pennsylvania.
The division did note that PokerStars had voided all the wagers and returned the money to bettors before the games began. It also indicated the company acknowledged the bets violated the law and that PokerStars had agreed to the fine as part of a settlement with the state, according to the Associated Press.
Matt Primeaux, senior vice president for Strategy & Operations, USA at The Stars Group—which owns PokerStars—commented on the case by email to the Press of Atlantic City.
“We generally don’t comment on regulatory matters like these, but we had a manual gating error from our international games into New Jersey,” he said. “We cooperated with the DGE as we always do, have learnt from the problem, and are confident it won’t reoccur.”
New Jersey legislators are currently considering a bill that would set fines starting at $20,000 and ranging up to $100,000 for companies that take prohibited bets on New Jersey college teams. The bill has cleared a state Assembly committee, but not yet gone before the full Assembly for a vote.
Previously, the Golden Nugget casino and Caesars Entertainment were also penalized for taking bets on New Jersey college teams. Caesars was fined $2,000 for taking bets on a Rutgers-Kansas football game in September, and Golden Nugget forfeiting $390 in bets that it took on numerous college games involving New Jersey teams, according to the AP.
State law prohibits wagers on college teams from New Jersey, regardless of where the game is played, or on college games that take place within the state.
In another matter, Wynn gaming has announced it will launch an online sport betting site in the increasingly crowded New Jersey market. The company, however, has not said which live sportsbook it will be partnering with. Online sportsbooks must partner with casinos or racetracks that offer sportsbooks.
The site will be launched with Scientific Games software, according to a press release from that company.
Wynn Resorts will utilize several Scientific Games products and services including: a sports betting and iGaming system; a managed sports trading service and Scientific Games’ market-leading content aggregation system that is home to more than 2,000 digital games, the release said.
A launch date was not announced.
