New Jersey Gambling Regulator Fines GVC’s bwin.party for Self-Exclusion Failures

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has slapped a hefty fine on GVC Holdings and its Atlantic City land-based casino partner Borgata Hotel Casino for self-exclusion failures

In a civil action order containing details about the fine, the New Jersey gambling regulator names bwin.party as the violator of the state’s self-exclusion rules. Bwin.party entered New Jersey back in 2013 when the state opened its market for regulated online gambling services. The online gambling operator joined forces with the Borgata to provide its services to local customers.

GVC acquired bwin.party and its online gaming and betting brands in 2016. The digital gambling business ceased to exist under its original name as it became part of the new group.

Following a Division of Gaming Enforcement complaint dated December 20, 2018 against bwin.party, the state’s gambling regulator imposed an $81,000 fine on the online gaming operation.

The decision was announced in a March 8 civil action order signed by David Rebuck, the Director of New Jersey’s gambling regulator. The fine is payable upon receipt of an invoice from the gaming enforcement division.

Bwin.party is facing the consequences of its failure to prevent self-excluded players from gambling online. As a result, 12 gamblers, who had previously opted to self-exclude from wagering, lost the amount of $41,759.49. In a separate civiл order, the Borgata was ordered to forfeit the exact amount of gambling money lost by the 12 self-excluded individuals once it receives an invoice from the Division.

Geolocation Failures

The Borgata has recently received another slap on the wrist by the New Jersey gambling regulator, that one for failing to prevent a gambler based in California from accessing its online gaming offering.

In an order from earlier this year, the Division ordered the Borgata and Caesars Interactive, the online gambling division of Caesars Entertainment Corp., to forfeit more than $90,000. The money was found in the online gambling accounts of Vinh Dao, a California resident who found a way around the geolocation technology used by New Jersey’s casinos to prevent out-of-state gambling.

Mr. Dao was found to have been able to gamble on New Jersey websites without leaving the comfort of his California home in February 2014, when the state’s online gambling market was still very young and operators were in the process of ironing out geolocation issues and related tech glitches.

Last month, the Borgata was ordered to forfeit around $68,000 in gambling money wagered by customers who were not permitted to gamble or failed to produce identification papers upon request.

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