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The Division of Gaming Enforcement in New Jersey has issued stern warnings over withdrawal delay complaints. This comes after a volume of complaints were made involving what are generally considered as bad industry practices. The complaints include delays of up to two weeks on withdrawals.
Withdrawal Delays Lead to Warnings for New Jersey Operators
New Jersey is a very important state in the United States for online gambling. This is because they were the first state to be regulated for online casinos and other types of play. However, several operators have recently come under fire for delays on withdrawals.
These warnings are atypical for regulated markets in the United States, which makes them stand out even more.
The details on these complaints are pretty straightforward. No specific operators have been named, but a general warning has been put out there. This warning creates a situation where no site will have an excuse if they continue this behavior. What’s troubling, however, is that it happened in the first place. With that said, it’s good to see the Division of Gaming Enforcement come down on and address it immediately. The lack of delay in addressing this type of thing is critical for maintaining player confidence.
Why These Warnings Happened
The warnings themselves came after a number of complaints were received by regulators. These covered multiple sites, though the exact number is unknown. What is known, however, is that regulators are taking this extremely seriously. They’re taking the position that “if you give an inch, they will take a mile,” and that means putting a stop to it before it gets out of hand.
What this all boils down to is regulated sites putting what seem to be unnecessary delays on withdrawals. This is a shady tactic used by some online gambling sites for a variety of reasons. However, the reasons don’t really matter here. What matters is that the Division of Gaming Enforcement isn’t having it. That starts with David Rebuck, the Director of New Jersey’s enforcement body.
It was Rebuck’s bulletin on the subject that started this whole thing off. In that bulletin, he mentioned complaints about it taking up to two weeks to receive a withdrawal. Moreover, he elaborated on other issues like bonuses being offered to reverse withdrawals that had been requested. This is a tactic used by shady companies, and Rebuck believes it has no place in the New Jersey market.
Legitimate Reasons for Delays
Delays on withdrawals can have some legitimate reasons. Sometimes, there are banking issues that are outside of the hands of the operators. Other times, they have to check to make sure that fraud and money laundering aren’t factors. Outside of those types of reasons, however, there isn’t much reason for withdrawals to take so long.
What caught the attention of Rebuck and the Division of Gaming Enforcement’s attention were the following elements:
- It had happened to a number of different people across different sites.
- This was a consistent problem that was seemingly not random events.
- These are the first types of problems to come up before other shady issues follow.
As we mentioned up above, they aren’t having it here, and that’s great news for players in the state.
Regulated Online Gambling in the United States
Due to the division between state and national government, online gambling is regulated on the state level in the US. That means that each individual state has to make the decision about whether to outlaw online gambling or turn it into a regulated market. Many states have become regulated markets. However, several others still ban it. Gambling online is even a felony in some parts of the country.
The bottom line is that these state-led regulatory bodies are there to protect the players. This type of behavior is the kind of thing that they need to be protected from. We’re seeing right now that New Jersey isn’t having this type of shady activity go on.