NJ Fines Evolution $12K Over Dealer and Game Errors

New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement recently fined the provider of Business-to-Business online casino solutions, Evolution, for a string of dealer and game errors inside its live dealer studios. 

Four “Impermissible“ Mistakes 

In a letter made public earlier this month, interim director Mary Jo Flaherty labeled the mistakes that attracted the $12,000 fine “impermissible,” explaining that “the failures of Evolution’s dealers and managerial staff to ensure proper dealing of table games resulted in numerous violations.”

The first incident occurred on June 15, 2021 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, when a dealer at the blackjack table dealt cards to players but failed to give himself one. Once the problem was acknowledged, staff attempted to fix it by moving the cards back into the deck. 

However, according to state rules, the dealer, who later received written discipline for his mistake, was only supposed to draw an additional card. 

Another blackjack error was reported at the same studio on January 6, 2023, and it involved one of the virtual blackjack tables displaying incorrect dealer instructions. The on-screen instructions claimed that the dealer must stand on 17 and draw on 16 when, in reality, the correct rule requires the dealer to hit on a soft 17.

The printing mistake went unnoticed for 26 hours during which the dealer kept playing incorrectly. However, this did not prompt the casino to start any formal disciplinary action against staff members.

Roughly two months later in the same year, roulette croupiers at Hard Rock had to re-spin the ball several times as it failed to make the minimum four revolutions around the wheel. Five dealers later admitted they didn’t even know that rule existed. 

Then, on September 19, 2023, dealers at Evolution’s Ocean Casino Resort studio unknowingly used two incomplete decks of cards, with a total of five missing cards. Games went on for more than 16 hours and 438 rounds of blackjack before anyone caught the problem. 

Neither the roulette croupiers at Hard Rock nor the blackjack dealers at Ocean Casino received any fine or punishment.

Close to $190,000, Confiscated 

Alongside the fine, the division also announced that $186,184 in winnings had been confiscated from players who were either underage (under 21) or on self-exclusion lists. 

By law, a portion of those funds will go toward compulsive gambling treatment and prevention programs, while the rest will support New Jersey’s Casino Revenue Fund. 

The latter helps seniors and people with disabilities via support programs, including Hearing Aid, Community Care, Personal Assistance, Homemaker, Transportation, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled.

The state could also benefit from dormant players’ money as per a November 2024 proposal to seize money from inactive online gambling accounts. The funds would reach the unclaimed property program, once a specific period has passed.