NJ Penalizes GVC and Borgata for Self-Exclusion Fail

Gambling regulators from New Jersey officially condemned GVC Holdings and their casino partner, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, because they allowed gamblers who were excluded to place wagers online.

Simply put, both companies broke the self-exclusion rules and now will have to face financial consequences.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement appointed a financial penalty of $81,000 to bwin.party entertainment (now acquired by GVC Holdings)…

…and their land-based partner, Borgata Casino Hotel, owned by MGM Resorts.

The Official Complaint

GVC and Borgata were penalized because they permitted gamblers who excluded themselves from the companies’ online gambling sites to place their wagers.

DGE filed this complaint because they found out that around 12 gamblers somehow managed to to the forbidden websites…

…and lose $41,759 combined while playing.

So now, DGE requires that bwin.party (GVC) and Borgata forfeit that amount in addition to the $81k fine.

But, this is not the first time that Borgata has been penalized by DGE. In a different ruling this month, the casino had to forfeit almost $68k in winnings they collected from 36 gamblers.

DGE issued that penalty because Borgata allowed those gamblers to place their wagers, although they didn’t produce adequate identification upon request, abandoned certain assets or were just prohibited from gambling.

The casino was also punished by DGE in four other rulings of a similar nature…

…so now they have to pay an additional $27.7 million.

Bying Geolocation Technology

The second big penalty that DGE issued this month happened around two weeks ago when they confiscated $90k from a California gambler that somehow managed to by geolocation technology and place his wagers in New Jersey.

DGE found out that he somehow did this back in 2014 but he wasn’t using a VPN. The gambler placed his wagers from 3000 miles away and won around $90,000.

Now, both Borgata and Caesars Interactive will have to give back the funds to state authorities…

…while Vinh Dao, which is the gambler’s actual name, will be given $2,500 for cooperating with the regulators.

The plan is to divide the rest of the funds to New Jersey’s programs for gambling addiction, as well as to a fund for senior and disabled citizens.

More Penalties Issued

But, Borgata wasn’t the only casino that was hit by DGE. Caesars Entertainment casinos were also punished with almost $5k in forfeiture because they allowed prohibited gamblers to gamble online.

Also, Hard Rock in Atlantic City got hit with a $1k penalty for allowing underage bettors to place their wagers.

In March, two other online operators were targeted by DGE. Gaming Innovation Group was fined with a $2k penalty because they allowed gamblers to without issuing their social security numbers.

Scientific Games’ SG Digital division was also fined $1k because they failed to identify gamblers who already got themselves excluded, but managed to gamble.

Source:

“NJ spanks GVC, Borgata for online gambling self-exclusion fail”, Peter Amsel, calvinayre.com, March 21, 2019.