How To Do A Legalized Games of Chance (Raffles and Bingos) in New Jersey

*Note: This is our interpretation of the law and is simplified for the sake of being digestible. Nothing posted should be considered legal advice.

Before You Begin, Ask Yourself:

1. Is my organization a non-profit organization?
2. Has my organization been issued by the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission (LGCCC) a Biennial License and is currently in good standing?
   • If my organization doesn’t have a license, I have partnered with an organization that does, based on the list provided by the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission.

If you’re answer is no to question one, you can’t hold a legalized game of chance, mainly because the whole point is to help non-profits make money. Even then, the State considers who is or isn’t a qualified organization, and lists examples such as:

organizations or associations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, churches and or religious congregations and religious organizations, charitable, educational and fraternal organizations, civic and service clubs, senior citizen associations and clubs, officially recognized volunteer fire companies and officially recognized volunteer first aid or rescue squads.

If you say no to answer two, it is always recommended for you to get your own license. Currently, the State does allow you to do the initial application online here: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Pages/registration.aspx.

Unfortunately, that is the beginning and the end of you getting to do things online with this process – including payment. Everything else from here on is generally by mail (I’m talking USPS – not e-mail).

*As an alternative, you can work with an organization that does have a license and have them give that money to you, but that would require them to do the application and handle every step of the process as if the games of chance were for their organization.

Raffle

As raffles are done far more than bingos, and there are only two sections that are different, this guide is focused on doing a raffle, and the bingo section will note the difference between the two.

Link to License Application (as of 10/21/2025): https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Applications/Application-for-Raffle-License.pdf

Now, let’s break down each part:

Top Section

• Application No. RA: Given by the municipality
• Identification No.: This is your Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission Number – Not your Federal ID, Social Security, Phone Number or anything BUT your Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission Number
• Name of Municipality: Wherever the Games of Chance take place

Part A – General

1. Name of Applying Organization: Your Organization’s Name
2. Street Address of Headquarters: The address of your organization (or mailing address if your organization just has a PO Box)
   • Please note, this application can be requested under OPRA, so I wouldn’t recommend a home address
3. Mailing Address (if different): If you don’t accept mail at the address of the headquarters, put that here
4. For Part A – Section 3, you are to enter the date of each raffle, the hours it will go on, and the State prefers you to give the time of the drawing, so that if (Big IF) they have a inspector go, it is when the drawing happens. You can enter as many dates as you want, but it cannot go beyond when the license expires, and it is generally best to keep it within the same calendar year (mainly to do the Clerk’s Office a favor, due to it not spilling over into another year regarding our retention schedule)
5. Address of place where raffles will be played: Enter the address here
6. Does the applicant own the premises or regularly occupy them for its general purposes: Choose yes or no
7. If raffle equipment is to be rented, attach a statement by the raffles equipment lessor to this application on Form 13:
   • So, the State gives a list of approved providers: https://app.box.com/s/b3akfuc8i6gc2jpmpkbbbaslyygud5w2 but made it a PDF you can’t sort, download, and can’t even search with a basic CTRL + F combination.
   • Here is Form 13: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Applications/Form-13-Statement-of-Raffle-Equipment-Supplier-Lessor.pdf

Part B – Schedule of Expenses

Let is be clear, you can very well have no expenses. However, if the State assumes this to not be true, it can be sent back to the Clerk’s Office, who will have to contact the applicant, since the State uses the Clerk’s Office as a middleman throughout the entire process, except getting the Biennial License.

So, regarding this section, note that the application is not considered a scheduled expense. More so, it would be tickets if you are doing an off-premise game, but you would not list prizes here. Some put down the location they are renting from, but the main thing here is, when you buy anything, the State believes they should be brought from a vendor on this list: https://app.box.com/s/b3akfuc8i6gc2jpmpkbbbaslyygud5w2.

Part C – Schedule of Purposes

1. For #1, you are entering the reason you are holding the game. If you’re a PTA, it could be for a field trip, resources like notebooks, pencils, pens, a church may hold games to fix the roof, you get the idea.
2. For #2, this is ONLY done if you plan to give the money to another organization. This is primarily so a non-profit that doesn’t plan to hold any games, or rarely does, can work with one that does hold multiple games, and can benefit from that license.
   • Note: this is not to be abused, so one organization can avoid the paperwork and just work with one that has an LGCCC license. I’m not saying you’ll get in trouble, but if members of the LGCCC ever have time on their hands, questions could be asked.

Part D – Schedule of Prizes

This is the part that can cause many people issues, for certain games, mainly due to off-premise games (meaning you sell tickets before the event) or games where you are giving away merchandise.

These are all the fees for the games which are played (by the majority of people): https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Pages/licensefees.aspx

The reason we list these is because, again, this is when things get confusing and a bit all over the place.

For example, the most popular games are:

• On Premise 50/50:
  • There is a fee of $20 to the State and a separate $20 to the municipality, for each day a game is played, if it is anticipated that over $400 will be made
• Off Premise 50/50
  • You initially pay $20 to the State and a separate $20 to the municipality for each day a game is played, and then, if you make over $1000, you are expected to pay both $20 per $1000 made.
• Off-Premise Merch
  • The minimum you pay is $20 to the state and a separate $20 to the municipality for each day a game is played, but you add $20 to each check per $1000 of the value of the prizes. So, if the prizes are two game consoles worth $1200, you would pay $40 to the State and $40 to the municipality
• On-Premise Merch
  • There is a fee of $20 to the State and a separate $20 to the municipality, for each day a game is played, if the prize(s) exceed $400

But, on top of fees being confusing, it should be noted that Off-Premise games require a sample ticket. Luckily, you can pull from their website samples: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Pages/applications.aspx, but they don’t make it fillable like the application. But they accept it if you do fill it in.

I should also note that if you have an example ticket from your commercial printer, that works too, but it needs to have all the information on the sample ticket linked above. You need your LGCCC ID, Municipal Raffle License #, Organization name, prizes and retail value, where the drawing is, date and time of drawing, price of ticket, ticket #, and the wording regarding no substitution or prizes.

Now you might be thinking, ‘Can I save money and print tickets myself?” I would be cautious because the State can get funny about DIY workarounds.

Lastly, please let whoever is doing the application on the municipal side know if you’ll be selling tickets before or during the event, as it makes it easier on them to know about pricing, if you need a sample ticket, and how to handle the application.

Part E – Officers of Applicant

For this section, you would enter all the officers you can, and I would recommend, to make everyone’s life easier, putting at least one e-mail address somewhere. As noted above, LGCCC is a bit old school, so they didn’t even put a section for e-mail, even with it being 2025, when this guide was done initially.

I should also note, at least one of these people will need to sign the last page.

Part F – Members of Applicant Who Will Be In Charge

Same as Part E, including one member who will need to sign the last page.

Part G – Members of Applicant Who Will Assist In Conducting The Games

Optional, but if you can put at least one down, that will help.

Part H – Names of Other Organizations Whose Members Will Assist

Optional, and I’ve rarely seen people fill this

Part I – Statement of Applicant and member(s) in charge

Generally speaking, someone in the municipal building, usually in the Clerk’s Office or Library, is a notary, and they can fill out that section. What is most important is that you are expected to have the signature of one officer and a separate signature of one member in charge. The State will send this back if there isn’t at least one of each.

Report Of Operations

Once the game is done, you submit the report of operations: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Applications/Raffle-Report-of-Operations.pdf to the LGCCC. Surprisingly, this can be emailed or mailed to them, and the Clerk’s office doesn’t require a copy.

Bingo Games

The Raffle and Bingo application process is highly similar, hence more focus is being put on the raffle application than the bingo. However, the bingo one has some quirks worth noting:

Application link: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Applications/Application-for-Bingo-License.pdf

Part A – General

• For section 3, you just put in dates and hours.
• Number 4 is where a lot of trouble happens, mainly if the organization that has an LGCCC registration (sometimes referred to as a license in this guide) does not intend to hold a bingo at their location. The location you plan to hold a bingo has to be licensed to hold a bingo game. Meaning, it needs to be owned by an organization with an LGCCC license, or they need to hold an active Commercial Rentor’s License, which is $1000 a year.
  • Application for Commercial Rentor’s License: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Applications/Initial-Application-for-Commercial-Rentor%27s-License.pdf

Part D – Schedule of Prizes

This is another significant part of the process that gets both the public and some members of the Clerk’s Office tripped up. The description of prizes and retail value is easy, but the schedule of games is less obvious.

Basically, they just want to know what type of games you are playing. Here is a sample list: https://www.bingocardcreator.com/blog/bingo-patterns/ that includes all the patterns from diagonal, four corners, and the rest.

Note: The State doesn’t provide an official list or one that limits the type of boards you can play. They do, however, expect you to provide not only what the prizes are, but what games are associated with them, usually with a separate document.

Fees

Bingo games are made so simple by having it where it is $20 to the State and $20 to the municipality per game (so if you play on the 2nd and 13th of this month, it would be $40 to the State and $40 to the municipality), and like with raffles, you can schedule games up until the license expires, but do your Clerk a favor and keep it to the calendar year per application.

Report of Operations

Bingos have it just like raffles: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/lgccc/Applications/Bingo-Report-of-Operations.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions