New Jersey holds a deep history of gambling, and it prides itself as the home of the world’s first casino resorts which were located in Atlantic City. Today, New Jersey is the city with the most lenient gambling and betting laws in the United States. It was after the signing of several recent gambling laws that have legalized online casinos.

With the recent amendments to New Jersey gambling laws, residents can now play casino and poker games through the internet. But where did it all began?

We are going to take you down memory lane and show you how New Jersey gambling and laws around NJ online slots have evolved over the years.

The History of New Jersey Gambling Laws

In the year 1969, the first state lottery was approved in New Jersey with the aim of funding education projects within the state. During this period, the money raised by the state lottery was used to build several schools.

In 1976, gambling was legalized in New Jersey to raise funds to support the elderly and disabled. The move opened doors for the first physical casino to be built in Atlantic City.

In 1978, Resorts International Casino was opened, and it became the first physical casino to be established in New Jersey, Atlantic City.

More and more casinos were opened after that, and most of them are still operating up to date.

In 2013, the first online casino website offering poker and casino games went live in New Jersey following a successful signing into law of a new bill by the Governor, Chris Christy.

It was after he rejected the first proposed bill in 2011 that was seeking to legalize online casino activities in New Jersey.

Let’s look at the journey of the legislative process to legalize online casinos in New Jersey.

The Genesis of New Jersey online Casino Legality

On January 1, 2010, Raymond Lesniak introduced a Senate bill No. 3167 proposing that casinos in Atlantic City start operating online casinos in New Jersey. According to the proposed bill, casinos were required to buy an annual license to go live and all their equipment to be located in New Jersey.

In March 2010, a new bill No. 2570 on online casinos in New Jersey was introduced by John Burzichelli. The bill proposed that New Jersey residents will be granted permission to play any online gambling. However, the bill was not voted in time, and it was put on hold until 2011.

In November 2010. Raymond’s bill received a majority backing in the Senate, and it was passed with a 29 to 5 margin. It did not automatically become a law because it needed to be adopted and passed by the New Jersey state’s assembly and signed by the Governor, Chris Christy.

On January 1, 2011. The Burzichelli bill was debated and passed in the New Jersey assembly, and it was forwarded to the Senate. Two months later, the amended bill was taken to the Governor’s office for signing, but he rejected it despite having massive support from many quarters.

On April 15, 2011, there was an overall crackdown on online poker games in the US, and they were all shut down. After a few months, the Wire Act was amended, and its interpretations changed to mean that any event that is outside sports betting does not fall under the Wire Act.

In early 2012, the Governor of New Jersey relaxed his tough position on online gambling, and this prompted Senator Lesniak to introduce a new bill which captured the interest of the two previous bill proposals.

Following a series of amendments, on February 26, 2013, the new bill A2578 was signed into law by the Governor. New Jersey became the third US state to legalize online gambling officially.

In the same year, Caesars Entertainment was granted the first operating license for online casinos in New Jersey.

The most extraordinary move in online gambling games came on October 13, 2017. It was after Chris Christie announced that New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada would be sharing player pools for online poker games.