New Jersey has been the darling of the online sports betting industry since the US Senate removed the federal ban on sports betting in 2018.

The Garden State wasted no time in legalizing the industry, setting a relatively low tax rate and negligible licensing fee for new sportsbooks.

While other states like Nevada that legalized online sports betting decided to impose a number of restrictions on new bettors, New Jersey created an environment where online sports betting could flourish.

The result is now that NJ is the best state in the US to place an online wager.

Almost every online sportsbook is up and running in the Garden State. This is great... but being spoilt for choice can have its downsides, one of which is working out what sportsbook is the right fit for you.

In this review, we will go through the different things you should look for in your sportsbook, and what sportsbooks come out on top in each of these.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is responsible for issuing licenses to sportsbooks looking to be set up in the state of New Jersey.

Once the licence is approved then a sportsbook can offer online wagering within the state of New Jersey.

Legally, you are still allowed to sign-up with an NJ online sportsbook even if you are outside of the state, but you must be within state borders to make your first deposit, wager or withdraw funds.

A licensed online sportsbook will check that you are within state borders using geolocation technology.

All NJ sportsbooks we list on this page are fully legal and licensed in the state of New Jersey.

Do NOT use any offshore sportsbooks as they are not liable in the state of NJ and therefore your funds are not secure.

The NJ sportsbook betting market is highly competitive which is good news for you as a customer. As a sportsbook will not want to be seen as offering lower value odds than its competitors, all the legal and licensed sportsbooks in NJ offer relatively similar odds, which are all of a decent value.

However, there are two ways that you can pick out the right sportsbook if it's just the value of the odds that you are interested in.

One way is to look at all of the odds on the market over a certain period of time and look for any sportsbook that consistently offers odds with a better value than the market average. There are a number of odds comparison sites on the internet that make this a little easier for you, but it's still a time-consuming task. With more time and resources at our disposal, we have looked at three sportsbooks which, in general, offer the best value odds. We used a three month period to trial this, but remember there are constant fluctuations in the market, so we cannot be 100% accurate.

Another way to approach this topic is to hone in on a particular sport such as football, baseball, basketball, hockey or soccer.

By doing this, it is easier to see some outliers as it is normal for sportsbooks to prioritize certain sports. This can be for a number of reasons, but most often than not it is related to their sponsorship of either the league or a sports team.

We have selected a sportsbook for each of New Jersey's most popular sports.

The team here at bettingscanner.com have a lot of experience from different markets which all offer some great sports betting offers, but the Garden State wins it when it comes to the incredible amount of sign-up and welcome bonuses available.

Not only are there a huge amount of welcome bonuses - often two per sportsbook - but they are incredibly generous.

There currently are three types of sign-up bonuses offered by New Jersey sportsbooks:

No deposit bonus → This is the kindest of all the new player offers. It does not require you to place a deposit and effectively gives you an amount to bet for free. Think of this as a voucher you could get at a normal retail store. As this is effectively free money, it is unlikely that a sportsbook will give you more than $20 in free bets. A no deposit bonus will almost always come in conjunction with another type of bonus.

Currently, there are no NJ sportsbooks that offer a no deposit bonus.

Matched Bonus → This is a very popular type of welcome bonus in New Jersey. This means that your sportsbook will match your first deposit amount in bonus bets. So, for example, if you were to place $250 in your account, they will match this bonus with $250 in bonus bets. There will always be a minimum and maximum amount that you will need to deposit.

Second Chance Bet → This type of bet acts as a form of insurance on your first cash bet. It means your sportsbook will refund your first wager if you lose. The sportsbook will always require you to place the wager at specified minimum odds.

This section may be the most important to anyone new to online sports betting in NJ. Although you may be doing nothing wrong, you may encounter issues in being able to deposit and withdraw funds from your account.

The reason for this is simply that although the law is clear at a state level, at a national level it’s an ever-changing landscape, and will be so for a couple of more years. This means that some banks are up-to-date and following the situation whereas others have decided to wait until there is more of a clear nationwide picture as to what is going on. In short - not all banks allow you to withdraw or deposit funds, even if you are in NJ.

Then moving away from the legal aspect, there is a variation between sportsbooks as to what they offer as payment methods. For Example, some sportsbooks have PayPal as an approved partner whereas others do not. Here we suggest you check out our breakdown of sports betting payment providers here.

So what are the most common payment providers in NJ? Well, every sportsbook is different but here are some of the most popular ones:

PayPal

Our dear trusted friend PayPal. The American company that processes millions upon millions of transactions every year is a favourite in the betting industry. Every legal online sportsbook in New Jersey offers PayPal as a payment option. We recommend PayPal as its a safe, secure and easy way to circumvent banking transactions.

ACH (eCheck)

This method might sound a little clunky compared to the big brands such as PayPal but anyone who has used it will know that it is surprisingly easy to use and set up. All you need to do is provide your social security number and choose a PIN. The advantage of this method is you do not incur the fees you do with a credit or debit card. The drawback is that the processing times are much longer - up to 48 hours to deposit and up to 72 hours to withdraw.

Skrill

Skrill is almost the same as PayPal. It is a trusted payment platform that plays the middleman between your bank and your sportsbook. It, like PayPal adds an extra layer of security to your transactions. The only real difference is that it charges you when you withdraw funds, compared to PayPal that charges you when you deposit.

New Jersey is blessed with a number of excellent professional and semi-professional teams which is partly why it has proven so popular with sportsbooks in the US.

New Jersey boasts two teams in the NFL - New York Jets and New York Giants - and the New Jersey Devils in the NHL.

They are also home to the popular New York Red Bulls in the MLS.

When it comes to baseball New Jersey is home to a whole host of semi-pro and minor league baseball teams. Betting on these type of teams is still popular among betting aficionados as some of the high-value odds can be found in these leagues.

If counting sheep isn’t for you then we can recommend reading the riveting Assembly Bill 4111 Act But, for those of you who just need to know the essentials, here are the key points:

• You must be over 21 to bet online in New Jersey
• You must be within the borders of New Jersey. Betting sites will geolocate you with your IP address.
• You are not allowed to bet on college or high school games in NJ

One important thing to consider is that you don’t actually need to be a resident of New Jersey to use a sportsbook in New Jersey.

Your device; mobile, desktop or tablet has a unique IP address that the sportsbook can read. If you are within the state borders then you are perfectly entitled to bet with a sportsbook in NJ.

The act legalized online gambling in an interesting way, making New Jersey quite unique in its approach to the situation. Instead of outright allowing online sportsbooks it legalized sports betting at its current casinos and racetracks. Then they allow these casinos and racetracks based in NJ to partner with online sportsbooks.

A great example of how this works is William Hill who partnered with Monmouth Park in New Jersey. This is no doubt a way for the state to retain control over the online sportsbook landscape. The casinos and racetracks are part of NJ’s heritage and giving them the responsibility of looking after the online sportsbooks is a good way of keeping everything in check.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has now passed a law that allows restricted wagering on esports.

The current law stipulates that online sportsbooks can accept wagers of up to $100 with a maximum payout of $500. It might not exactly set the pulse racing but it is at least a start. The state will monitor this trial phase and it may allow a loosening of restrictions in the future.

Esports is hugely popular in NJ, as it is all over the US. Nevada has already legalized online Esports betting, but the sign-up and payment restrictions in the state mean that NJ will have a competitive advantage if they decide to allow wagering on Esports. New Jersey, unlike Nevada, does not require bettors to sign up or deposit in person.