New Jersey Bill to Ban Micro-Betting Heads to Senate Floor

The Garden State is looking to shake up its sports betting market.

The New Jersey Senate State Government Committee voted 4-1 to pass SB 2160, which would fully ban micro-betting. The controversial bet type has been linked to integrity and problem gambling, but is also popular among bettors. Lawmakers heard both sides of the argument over the proposed ban, with all but one approving it.

The bill is now headed to the Senate floor, where it will await a full vote.

Micro-Betting At Center of MLB Scandal

Mocro-betting was a niche form of wagering in the US, but became the center of national discussion last year’s MLB spot-fixing scandal.

The Cleveland Guardians had two pitchers, including one All-Star, charged with spot-fixing over a three-year period. Investigators found unusual betting patterns around micro-wagers on single pitches for the pair, leading to the ring's discovery.

The players used micro-betting to cover up their cheating. This allowed them to manipulate a single pitch rather than the outcome of an entire game. This makes spot-fixing far harder to detect, especially in the middle of the long MLB season.

While the MLB and lawmakers call for bans on micro-betting, only New Jersey remains on track to do so.

Sportsbooks Share RG Stats & Tools

During the committee’s hearing on SB 2160, representatives from major online sportsbooks took the floor. Those from DraftKings demonstrated their responsible gaming protocols in place, and shared the following highlights:

• 92,000 manual customer account reviews for Problem Gambling
• 44 million messages to customers, referring them to RG tools
• Integration of Gamalyze Card Game

While operators were praised for developing numbers and clear plans to improve responsible gambling, lawmakers believe the problem is already too big for the industry and country to handle.

New Jersey Looks to Make History

If lawmakers pass SB 2160, it would make the Garden State the first US market to outright ban micro-betting. While the dangers around problem gambling and spot-fixing are now common knowledge, the industry is fighting hard to protect itself.

The long “no” vote on SB 2160 came from Sen. Vince Polistina, who echoed the fears that led similar bans to fail in other markets.

While he acknowledged the dangers of micro-betting, he believes a ban would deal a blow to Atlantic City as it attempts to compete against New York’s growing retail casino market.

Atlantic City is at a tipping point. I mean, you see the headlines on Atlantic City with New York gaming coming and the additional competition. And so it troubles me that we would potentially have people in Atlantic City that would not be able to do things 45 miles away.