Report on New Jersey's responsible gambling efforts

The Rutgers Center for Gambling Studies has published the first of four annual independent reports on the efficacy of New Jersey’s responsible gambling requirements for the online gambling market.

In summary, the report (see link below) indicates that the responsible gaming facilities offered by the New Jersey operators are used by only a small percentage of the online gambling population:

* Deposit limiting was the most popular choice and was used by 1.3 percent of players at 6,851;

* 73 percent of those using the deposit limited facility later elected to change their limits;

* Just over 53 percent of players who set loss limits returned to revise these limits later;

* Only 26 percent of players who set limits were online casino punters;

* The three day cooling off period service was used by 5,465 online gamblers or 1.04 percent;

* One year and five year exclusions from all New Jersey online gambling sites were not used much – 441 players or 0.08 percent for one year and 314 players or 0,06 percent for five years.

* Overall average age for males using the responsible gambling facilities was 37 years, whilst for females this figure was 47 years.

The Rutger report makes recommendations for the better display and presentation of responsible gambling services on websites, automatic default limits and educational and player choice elements of responsible gaming incorporated in the sign-up process.

The report also suggests that a more standardised approach to the presentation of responsible gambling options and information would be beneficial if applied across all New Jersey online gambling websites.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/ge/2015news/ResponsibleGamingFinalReport%202015.pdf