July 2025

L urking behind every raffle or game of bingo is a dense web of regulations with enormous stakes: fines of $7,500 for an initial violation and $15,000 for each subsequent violation. 1 In 1954, the New Jersey Legislature passed what it called the “Bingo Licensing Law.” 2 Among other things, the law allowed the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission (the “Commission”), a subset of the Division of Consumer Affairs, to enact rules and regulations regarding bingo and other games of chance. 3 And enact it did. Title 13, Chapter 47 of the New Jersey Administrative Code, comprised exclusively of rules governing games of chance, is now a sprawling 212-page document. 4 The regulations cover a range of games. Bingo and raffles are the focus, but newcomers like armchair races (in which participants use imitation money to wager on a pre filmed horse race) and casino nights (in which participants can engage in poker, baccarat, and other typical casino offerings) are also regulated. Crucially, these games cannot be legally operated by just anyone. They may only be operated by a “qualified organization,” which is defined as a: bona fide organization or association of veterans, religious congregation, religious organization, char itable organization, educational organization, fra ternal organization, civic and service club, officially New Jersey’s Regulations on BINGO, RAFFLES, AND OTHER GAMES OF CHANCE By Kevin T. DelRocini, Esq., McGovern Legal Services, LLC

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JULY 2025