DraftKings Casinois what one would consider a late arrival to the NJ online casino scene.
New Jersey Office PO Box 399 Hoboken, NJ 07030 We are regulated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement as an Internet gaming operator in accordance with the Casino Control Act N.J.S.A. 5:12-1 and its implementing regulations. DraftKings sportsbook is one of the top online operators and betting sites in New Jersey. In this DraftKings sportsbook reviewwe are providing you with an overview of its features and its frequent.
Think about it. The Boston-based company slowly rolled out a limited library of casino games in late 2018, some five yearsafter the industry launch. And by limited, we mean blackjack.
Fast-forward to January 2021, and the brand is one of the top NJ online casino revenue performers. It’s one of 40+ gambling sites hosted by two dozen brands.
Play NJ caught up with Jason March, vice president of gaming at DraftKings, to discuss a number of topics, including how far the casino brand has come in a short period of time.
When the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement releases the monthly online casino revenue report, there is not a breakdown by individual operators.
So this means the monthly NJ financial results from DraftKings Casino are not public information. The NJ sports betting industry follows the same model.
But in the case of DraftKings, the focus is on land-based partner Resorts Digital, the iGaming arm of Resorts AC.
The license holder reported $21.6 million and $20.9 million, in October and November, respectively.
More importantly, the old saying better late than never applies in this case. The NJ online casino industry enjoyed its best month ever in October 2020 with $93.4 million in revenue. Besides it being an all-time high, this marked the first time ever the monthly tally exceeded $90 million.
November was another strong month, with $91.4 million. December results will be released next week
March said it’s not surprising to see New Jersey’s growth in the industry.
“Online gambling has been legal for many years in jurisdictions globally, so there’s indicative data that showed the opportunity here, which is evidenced by the number of operators that chose to enter the market,” said March.
The NJ online casino industry has come a long way in its seven-plus years both in terms of number of brands and revenue.
Wynn and William Hill, both rolled out casino platforms last year, and more expected to debut sometime this year.
Clearly, the combination of revenue and number operators. continues to make New Jersey an extremely attractive online casino market.
March said it is exciting to see the industry continue to grow, in both revenue and new operators to the marketplace.
“Choice is always good for players and hopefully the industry has been able to provide a bit of responsible fun and distraction from a pretty tough [2020],” said March.
“Online gambling has shown a healthy evolution over the last five-plus years and I believe you’ll continue to see expansion with new game types and innovative games that are new overall to the industry.”
DraftKings continues to do its part by constantly rolling out new offerings, including casino war. The current count is approximately 350 slot titles combined with a “superior collection” of table games. So the total count exceeds 400 options.
Some of them are seasonal, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas blackjack. Dozens of the games can only be found on DraftKings.
And by having the only private live dealer studio in New Jersey, they were able to share the festive spirit with customers. It included festive layouts, dealer dress-up days, and holiday promotions.
Liike the DraftKings Sportsbook app, the Garden State is where the company’s casino platform debuted. In June, they rolled out a separate casino app.
DraftKings Casino is now live in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with Michigan expected to follow soon.
But NJ set the stage for other jurisdictions. March said “New Jersey has been invaluable to the industry as a whole.”
“They took a leadership role and paved the way for wider legalization in the United States. New Jersey provided an opportunity to deliver an online experience that needed change from the European models,” said March. “Players have spoken clearly with their actions that they want trustworthy options, games and brands that they know, all wrapped with exciting and valuable promotions.”
DraftKings was ideally placed to launch the first sportsbook in New Jersey when, a few months back, this state became the first outside of Nevada to legalize the practice of making wagers on sporting events.
Prior to the US Supreme Court lifting the 26-year-old PASPA Federal ban on sports betting in 2018, DraftKings along with FanDuel, had totally dominated the already legal Daily Sports Fantasy (DSF) market – so much so, in fact, that when the two juggernaut gaming institutions attempted to merge, cries of “it will be a total monopoly” quickly ended any such move.
DraftKings, who describe themselves as a global sports technology and entertainment company who believe that life is more fun when you have “skin in the game”, was founded by Matt Kalish, Paul Liberman and Jason Robins in 2012 and located in Boston.
With 9 million registered users, it was already offering sports fantasy contests with financial rewards in 11 professional sports in eight different countries including the USA, Canada, the UK, and Australia and, over the years, had paid out more than 5 billion dollars.
At this early stage when sports betting is still a fledgling industry in the US, legally it will only be able to sign-up and take sporting bets from punters shown by Geo-tracking to be within the borders of New Jersey.
However, with its huge base of Sports Fantasy players, strong financial backing and the excellent internationally-honed software provided by globally-renowned Kambi Sports, its New Jersey players will now be able to use their sporting know-how both as Fantasy Sports gamers and as sports betters on an exciting new widely-expanded online playing field.
And more and more DraftKings fantasy sports gamers are sure to join them when more states follow New Jersey’s lead and legalize sports betting.
From the word go, these new gamers will have the option of using desktop PC and laptop websites to do their online punting in their homes and offices or on the go using smartphones and tablets via Android and iOS apps.
What’s more, they should find the Kambi Sports interface on the DK Sportsbook pretty straightforward and easy to understand and navigate. There have been one or two minor glitches, but they are quickly being ironed out.
But perhaps, before going any further with this sportsbook review, we should start at the beginning with the process of registering and funding your account.
Before you can open the home page on the DraftKings Sportsbook’s website or download the mobile apps, you will need to register – and be 21 years or older.
Do this by simply clicking on the ‘Sign-me-Up” button – and make sure you are within the borders of New Jersey before you do.
If you are not, a pop-up notice will promptly advise you, thanks to GEO-Tracking, that you are in a “restricted location” and that you are, therefore “in violation of state law”.
After you have opened your Sportsbook account, you may fund them and make withdrawals from outside of NJ, but if you attempt to make any bets other than from this state, you will be blocked and shown the same violation notice.
You will also be warned that DraftKings have retained your user info and future attempts could result in “enforcement action.”
You shouldn’t hold it against DratftKings for this. Expect it to be standard practice on all the other newly-launched New Jersey sportsbooks as it is State law.
Having registered and created a user name and password, you will next need to fund your Sportsbook account with a deposit that may be as little as $5 if you wish to begin low-key wagers of say, just $1.
But remember, that your first bet will be matched up to $500. Free bet must be used within 30 days of first bet. Free bet amount is not included in any returns or winnings.
Thanks to the high-tech security encryption systems already developed by DraftKings Fantasy Sport, you can be pretty sure your deposits and withdrawals for the new FK Sportsbook will go through safely and that your password and other personal info will be secure.
You should also find it a pretty seamless process using their tried and tested deposit methods (MasterCard or Visa credit/debit cards, ACH eChecks, PayPal, Sightline, Online Transfers, DraftKings Prepaid Cards, or with Cash via PayNearMe 7-11 Stores) This should also apply to withdrawals made through Visa and MasterCard, and through PayPal, providing that you had first made your deposits through PayPal; likewise ACH eCheck or Sightline.
A welcome feature by DraftKings enables their Sportsbook punters to utilize their Fantasy Sports funds, both when making deposits, and for ongoing day-to-day betting.
Like the new Sugarhouse Casino/Sportsbook which also operates with Kambi software, DraftKings can confidently claim to have one of the two biggest Sportsbook menus in New Jersey.
Horse racing is not among them, but it fully covers all the other highly popular US professional sports like NFL and College football, NBA, WNBA and College basketball, MLB baseball, NHL ice hockey, and MMA, NASCAR and eSports as well as international soccer, motor racing, golf, tennis, boxing, cricket, and rugby union.
One legal restriction is that no bets may be placed on High School or College football in the state of New Jersey.
DraftKings’s menu of the world’s most closely followed soccer contests is extensive. Along with US and Mexican football, it also covers among others, the hugely popular UK Premier League, the star-studded Spanish La Liga, the German Bundesliga, the Italia Series A and the French Ligue 1.
Go inside each sport and navigate your way into any of their various leagues and competitions and you’ll find that at almost any time of the day or night you can make hundreds of different types of bets including, spread bets, over-and-under bets, futures bets, prop bets, totals and Round Robin bets as well as hundreds more wagers on one of the sportsbook industry’s most exciting new innovations – live, in-play betting.
In addition, DraftKings offer another of the newer international sportsbook innovations – a ‘Cash Out’ option.
It allows you to cash-out from an event on which you have placed a wager before it has been completed which can either help you cut your losses or, if you are up when you make the ‘Cash Out, help you win money, even if the end result is not in your favor.
DraftKings also has a rare player-limiting feature that in my book helps put it up there with the very best in New Jersey.
Policing this industry is necessary and self-policing can make an important contribution towards addiction and misuse.
Players can prevent themselves from gambling recklessly in three ways.
DraftKings Incorporated, one of the established US giants of daily sports fantasy gaming and the first company to launch an online sportsbook after sports betting became legal in New Jersey a few months back, has hit the ground running.
Thanks to its huge Sports fantasy customer base and its internationally renowned Kambi Sports software, it has been able to offer an exceptionally large number of new American punters an outstanding betting platform with a website or mobile app interface that is neat, easy-to-understand and simple-to-navigate and a betting menu matched only in New Jersey by fellow Kambi user SugarHouse.
It is right up there with the best sportsbooks of Europe with some of its special features like its live, in-play betting and Cash-out options and it is perhaps even ahead of them with a betting limit feature which can help punters guard against reckless wagering.
It is also able to keep its customers better-informed than most on the goings-on in the sports world via a series of blogs and TV presentations in its closely linked Sports Fantasy operation.
However, although it has an attractive sign-up first deposit bonus, it still has something to learn about promotions and betting pricing if it hopes to compete with the biggest guns of the World sportsbook market in the long-term.
In the meantime, we have no reservations in applauding it for what it has achieved in a very short-time and feel it could be well worthwhile for eligible New Jersey gamers to give it a shot – especially if they are already players of its Sports Fantasy games.