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While New Jersey's mobile sports betting market is mostly a dream come true for recreational gamblers in the Garden State, there are a few glaring holes. Up until recently, the inability to bet on Seton Hall games during the College Basketball season had the potential to draw folks to long established offshore books. The situation has only worsened for College Basketball bettors this season. Seton Hall was an even better team than in years past, owning an 11-4 record as this was going to press January 10, 2020. But here is the absolute shocker: The Rutgers Scarlet Knights Basketball program was on fire to start off 2020, then the pandemic hit!
Gambling911.com Does Not Promote Sports Betting in the State of New Jersey
When the state legislators opted to prohibit those placing bets in New Jersey from wagering on games that featured in-state colleges, few considered this a major barrier in terms of competition with the offshore books. After all, New Jersey is no Alabama or Mississippi or even Indiana when it comes to college sports fanatics. Sure Rutgers College Football does have a national title (from all the way back in 1989), but the current program was among the worst this past season. They were actually the biggest underdog in College Football history (versus Ohio State).
Seton Hall, on the other hand, has enjoyed more extended periods of success. Its College Basketball program has made it into the first round of the Men's NCAA Tournament over the past four years, advancing to the second round in 2018. Seton Hall is a small Catholic college known primarily for its Basketball team.
Then there is Rutgers University, the biggest in the state but a national punchline when it comes to sports.
Rutgers has only appeared in six NCAA Tournaments in school history. Their last appearance was back in 1991, nearly 30 years ago! What could have been in 2020 we will never know.
The Scarlet Knights beat a nationally-ranked team: Penn State. And did we mention they also beat Seton Hall?
Rutgers had been tied for second in the Big Ten League.
Rutgers was also ranking in the Top 25 in the NET Rankings at one point.
To start the 2020-21 season, Rutgers record was 3-0.
Rutgers pays 100-1 odds early to win the NCAA Men's College Basketball Championship.
While most offshore books claim not to take bets from those in New Jersey, where there's a will, there's a way. It's like using a proxy on the Internet to overcome blocked websites. Jazz Sports in San Jose, Costa Rica, this season started offering the option to open an anonymous betting account with just a valid email address through cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The customer in this case is a virtual wallet parked somewhere in cyberspace and perhaps tied to someone living in or visiting the state of New Jersey. Because Bitcoin uses anonymous addresses via the blockchain, tracing transactions to a particular individual is not impossible, but only under circumstances where said individual is under some type of probe. Even then it's the operator that may come under the wrath of New Jersey's gaming regulators, not the average Joe Blow placing bets from his Piscataway home.
To be clear, Gambling911.com betting partners operating offshore have been urged not to take bets from those living in New Jersey. Most - including BetOnline and Bookmaker - will not process credit cards or wires from anyone with a New Jersey address.
FanDuel and Draftkings as the state's top licensed sportsbook operators must abide by the regulatory framework: No taking bets on games that feature New Jersey colleges or college games played in the Garden State.
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
