New Jersey Bill Aimed At Underage Gamblers Doesn't Go Far Enough
Replacing criminal penalties for underage gambling with civil fines is proposed, but here's a better idea: mandatory education
New Jersey legislators are moving a bill along that would decriminalize gambling in a casino if you’re under the age of 21.
As of now, it’s a disorderly persons offense — which is a misdemeanor in the Garden State, which means it’s one of those pesky things that results in having a permanent record. The bill, S597, proposes changing this to make it a civil offense with fines starting at $500 for the first offense, increasing to $1,000 for the second offense and $2,000 for subsequent offenses. The money collected would be earmarked for compulsive gambling prevention, education, and treatment.
The bill just sailed through a Senate committee, 11-0, on the way to potentially becoming law.
This bill does not go far enough, and there will be a Jeff Edelstein Modest Proposal™ to follow, but before we get there …
Gambling young
If I had to guess, I’d say for every minute I’ve spent in an Atlantic City casino as an adult, I spent about five hours in one when under 21.
Some friends and I used to go all the time. The Showboat was our first casino, and then when the Trump Taj Mahal opened — which, to my now-addled and aged memory, was, and remains, the most opulent place on Earth — that became our destination.
We were never asked to show ID. We stuck to table games, so no risk of hitting a massive slot jackpot and having to … well, who knows what we would have done.
But yep, from the moment we started getting our driver’s licenses, our group would regularly make the three-hour or so trek (and then an hour or so trek once I moved farther south for college).
How did we manage to do this? We were very, very sneaky about it. Here, for the first time, I will detail the highly detailed six-step plan:
Step 1: Walk into the casino.
Step 2: Sit down at a table.
Step 3: Exchange American dollars for chips.
Step 4: Play blackjack.
Step 5: Bring chips to cage and cash out if we were so lucky.
Step 6: Leave.
We were clearly operating with Danny Ocean levels of subterfuge.
No one was hurt, some money was won, some money was lost, and we learned absolutely nothing from the experience. While I can’t remember any individual hands, I do know we were not playing optimal strategy, mostly because we definitely didn’t do any homework.
Just a few dumb kids punting money, illegally, into the ether.
Which now brings me to the Jeff Edelstein Modest Proposal™.
Teach ‘em!
Instead of taking today's under-21 scofflaws’ bankroll away through fines, we should be celebrating these kids.
Come on, a 19-year-old kid with the stones to waltz into a casino, take a seat next to someone puffing on an unfiltered Camel, and ask to be dealt in?
That’s confidence. That’s taking the initiative. That’s a risk-taker right there. This guy — or gal, obviously — might be a future hedge fund manager, oddsmaker, quant, who knows what.
And the big plan is to fine them for doing this, for showing up a year or two early for something we’ll happily let them engage in once they hit 21, pun intended?
That’s dumb. Instead, let’s offer — well, mandate — them a seat in a classroom.
That’s right. Gambling school. Odds, probability, statistics. You get caught playing underage, you have to take the course, and you have to pass an exam. Not one of those click-through-the-slideshow things while you scroll on TikTok. This is real.
You want to play blackjack, kid? Wonderful. Explain what you’d do with a 12 to the dealer’s 3. Show the work. “I had a feeling” will earn the same grade it would earn in any other math class.
And yes, teach them what gambling problems look like, how to at least be aware when something that is fun turns into something that is decidedly not fun.
Listen, these kids are going to turn 21. At that point the casinos will welcome them, offer them a player's loyalty card, and happily accept whatever money they haven’t already paid in fines.
My plan would instead arm them with knowledge.
I would have benefited back in the day. My friends would have benefited. We’re all still gambling, and we’re all, to varying degrees, still punting money into the ether.
So yes, skip the fine. Send them to school. Never ever split 10s. Except when … well, take the class and you’ll find out.
Jeff Edelstein is a longtime columnist, reporter, radio host, and fantasy sports aficionado, not necessarily in that order. He lives in New Jersey with his family.
