Gambling was outlawed for more than a century, but 2018 has seen the overturn of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, which prohibited all wagering activity in the state. As of 2021, sports betting is fully legal in NJ, but the regulations are strict. At the beginning of the 20th century, all gambling forms were banned, only to be allowed again in the 1950s. Starting as the free gambling state during the Civil War era, gambling regulations grew tighter since the 19th century, starting with the ban on lotteries. Among all of the United States, the state of New Jersey has a complicated history of gambling, with it becoming legalized, licensed, and regulated back and forth through decades.
