New Jersey Self-Exclusion: Lists, Durations, and Removal

New Jersey’s self-exclusion program lets you voluntarily ban yourself from gambling at Atlantic City casinos, retail sportsbooks, and every licensed internet gaming and sports betting platform in the state. You choose how long the ban lasts — one year, five years, or life — and once your name is on the list, every licensed operator has to refuse your wagers, close your accounts, and stop marketing to you.¹ If you gamble anyway, you forfeit the winnings and can be charged with trespass.

Two Separate Lists

New Jersey runs two self-exclusion lists through different agencies, and signing up for one does not put you on the other.

The Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) maintains the main list. It covers Atlantic City casino floors, retail sports wagering at casinos and racetracks, and all licensed internet gaming and sports betting apps operating in the state.¹ One DGE enrollment reaches every regulated casino-style gambling option in New Jersey, not just a single property or app.²

The New Jersey Racing Commission runs a separate list for thoroughbred and harness racetracks, off-track wagering facilities, account wagering, and fixed odds wagering.³ If horse racing is part of what you’re trying to stop, you have to enroll with the Racing Commission as well.⁴

Choosing One Year, Five Years, or Lifetime

When you register with the DGE you pick one of three periods: one year, five years, or lifetime.⁵ The Racing Commission list also starts at one year.⁶ Your choice is binding. You cannot shorten it later.

Think hard before choosing lifetime. It is irrevocable. Your name can never be removed from the list, with no appeal, no waiting period, and no exception.⁷ People sometimes pick it in a moment of crisis and regret it; treat the option as genuinely permanent.

How to Sign Up

The DGE offers four enrollment methods, and which ones are available depends on how broad you want the ban to be.¹

In person or by video conference, full exclusion. Covers all Atlantic City casino gaming, retail sports wagering, and every internet gaming and sports wagering platform. Lifetime exclusion requires this method.
In person or by video conference, internet only. Covers online gaming and sports wagering but not physical casino or racetrack locations.
Online through the DGE portal, for internet gaming and sports wagering self-exclusion.
Through your existing online player account, for internet gaming and sports wagering only.

Lifetime self-exclusion can only be done in person or by video conference; the online methods are not available for it.⁸ To schedule a video conference, call the DGE Self-Exclusion Hotline at 1-833-788-4DGE.

What You Need to Provide

The form asks for your legal name, aliases, date of birth, home address, and phone number. If your exclusion will cover physical casino locations, you also provide a physical description — height, weight, hair color, eye color — so floor staff can identify you.⁵

Your Social Security number is requested but voluntary under the federal Privacy Act, and declining to give it will not keep you off the list.⁷ If you decline online, you’ll need to schedule an in-person or video appointment to finish registering.⁸

Bring valid ID that includes your signature and either a photograph or physical description, such as a driver’s license, passport, or military ID.⁵

What Changes Once You’re on the List

Casinos and gaming operators are required to set up procedures to identify you, refuse your wagers, and deny you gaming privileges.⁹ Their obligations go well beyond the door:

No more marketing. Operators must stop sending promotional materials, targeted mailings, telemarketing calls, and player club communications.
No credit or perks. You lose casino credit, check cashing privileges, player club membership, complimentary goods and services, and junket participation.
Online accounts closed. Internet gaming operators must deny you access to their platforms.

These duties extend to the casino’s agents, so third-party marketing partners also have to drop you from their lists.

If You Gamble Anyway

The penalties are real. You cannot collect any winnings or recover any losses from gambling done while you’re on the list.¹⁰ Any money won or owed is subject to forfeiture after notice and a hearing.¹¹

For online play, you forfeit the electronic credits in your account and any funds that resulted from the gaming activity.⁸ Walking onto a casino floor while excluded can get you ejected and charged with criminal trespass.

Casinos Are Not Liable If They Miss You

Something worth knowing before you rely on the program: the statute shields licensed casinos and their employees from lawsuits by self-excluded players, or anyone else, for harm arising from either failing to block a self-excluded person or allowing them to gamble.¹⁰ Casinos are required to try to stop you. If they fail, the consequences fall on you — forfeited winnings, possible trespass charges — not on the casino. Self-exclusion is a serious tool, but it is not a guaranteed wall.

Coming Off the List

Your exclusion does not expire on its own. After your one-year or five-year period ends, your name stays on the list and you remain barred from gambling until you actively file to be removed.⁷

To get off the list, submit a Request for Removal form to the DGE after your period has expired, with valid photo ID carrying your signature.¹² The DGE has five business days from receiving the form to take your name off and notify Atlantic City casinos, racetrack sports wagering facilities, and internet gaming platforms.⁷ You may still be turned away during that processing window as operators update their records.

After removal, all gaming activities in New Jersey are reinstated: casino floors, internet gaming, sports wagering, and retail sportsbooks.² If you chose lifetime exclusion, none of this applies. Your name stays on the list permanently.

Where to Get Help

If gambling has become a problem for you or someone close to you, call 1-800-GAMBLER to reach the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. For questions about enrolling in self-exclusion specifically, the DGE’s dedicated hotline is 1-833-788-4DGE.¹³ Gamblers Anonymous also runs support groups throughout the state.

1
New Jersey Office of Attorney General. Self Exclusion Program
2
Division of Gaming Enforcement. Division of Gaming Enforcement – Self Exclusion
3
Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13:70-32.1 – Self-Exclusion List Rules Incorporated Herein by Reference
4
State of New Jersey. New Jersey Racing Commission – Information and Instructions for Application to be Placed on Self-Exclusion List
5
Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13:69G-2.2 – Request for Self-Exclusion and Internet Self-Exclusion
6
Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13:74A-2.1 – Self-Exclusion List, Application for Placement
7
Division of Gaming Enforcement. Division of Gaming Enforcement – Self Exclusion Instructions
8
Division of Gaming Enforcement. Division of Gaming Enforcement – Self Exclusion Instructions
9
Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13:69G-2.4 – Duties of Casino Licensee
10
Justia. New Jersey Code 5:12-71.2 – List of Persons Self-Excluded From Gaming Activities
11
Justia. New Jersey Code 5:12-71.3 – Penalties for Gaming by Prohibited Persons
12
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Request for Removal From Voluntary Self-Exclusion List
13
NJ Casino Control Commission. Problem Gambling / Self Exclusion