Ember Casino is one of those names that New Jersey online casino players might not know about yet. Parent company Delaware North has been focused on building brand recognition, expanding its game library, and most recently establishing a partnership with Captain Up, an award-winning engagement and loyalty platform.
To get a better idea with how things have been going since Ember’s early June launch, Deadspin spoke exclusively with Lee Terfloth, Chief Interactive Gaming Officer at Ember Entertainment, and Uri Admon, CEO of Captain Up.
Entering an extremely mature New Jersey iGaming market that debuted in November 2013 is a daunting task, especially when the challenge includes competing against the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Caesars Palace online casinos.The Garden State is currently the only market where Ember Casino is available.
Terfloth said the company is encouraged by the response to Ember since launching in New Jersey, particularly given how established and competitive the market is.
Ember is going with an approach that touches on digital marketing, promotions, partnerships, earned media, and opportunities “that introduce the Ember brand in different ways.”
“But awareness is only one piece of the equation. Once someone comes through the door, the experience has to give them a reason to come back,” Terfloth said. “That’s why we’re investing simultaneously in the game library, technology, loyalty and personalized engagement. We don’t want Ember to simply be another brand competing for attention in New Jersey. We want to build an experience players recognize and choose to return to.”
Terfloth noted that launching Ember Casino was only the beginning. He said the long-term opportunity is creating an experience that keeps players engaged and builds a relationship with the brand.
“Players have plenty of choices, especially in a market like New Jersey,” Terfloth said. “We believe differentiation comes from understanding what individual players value and creating experiences around that. Captain Up is one of the investments we’re making to help us build a more dynamic and personalized player experience as Ember grows.”
In regard to what stood out about the Captain Up product, Terfloth highlighted the flexibility of the platform and its ability to support engagement that goes beyond a traditional promotion.
“Captain Up gives us tools to build missions, tournaments, progression, rewards, and more personalized experiences around player behavior,” Terfloth said. “It also aligns with where we want to take Ember longer term. We see significant opportunities to create more connected experiences across digital and physical environments, and Captain Up gives us another tool to help build toward that vision.”
Admon noted that Captain acts as a living, unified engagement layer that fuses real-time gamification, behavioral data, and multi-tier loyalty into a single engine.
“Instead of pushing generic bonuses, we empower operators to launch dynamic journeys, interactive missions, cross-game challenges, live tournaments, and adaptive reward ladders, tailored directly to how each player interacts with the platform,” Admon said. “By transforming transactional reward schemes into continuous, immersive progression, we turn everyday gameplay into an experience players genuinely value and return to.”
September might be Responsible Gaming Education Month, but like with other operators, Ember Casino prioritizes the importance of RG, player protection, and compliance year-round. The platform includes dedicated patron protection and RG sections.
Besides having a detailed “myths associated with gambling” section, there are direct links to the National Council on Problem Gambling and the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey websites.
Terfloth said responsible gaming and compliance have to be part of the foundation of any experience we create and that’s a non-negotiable.
“Personalization isn’t about encouraging someone to play more than they should. It’s about making the experience more relevant to the individual while operating within the protections and requirements of a highly regulated market,” Terfloth said. “As we introduce new engagement tools, we work closely with our partners and compliance teams to make sure innovation and player protection continue to move together.”
Captain Up follows a similar approach with RG safeguards built directly into the logic of its engagement level. Admon highlighted three tools that the Captain Up platform includes:
The New Jersey online casino market is showing no signs of slowing down. Based on data provided by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the 30 operators have produced $1.87 billion through the first seven months of 2026. That number is up 14.5% compared to the same period last year. Being one of three new Garden State operators, it should come as no surprise that Ember accounted for just $648,862.
While revenue is important, Ember is just getting started with over 1,100 games. Terfloth said expanding the library continues to be a major priority.
“We want players to have both the titles they already know and love and a steady pipeline of new content that gives them reasons to explore,” Terfloth said. “We launched with a strong group of content and technology partners and have continued adding to that portfolio. You’ll consistently see us expanding the library through new providers, new titles, and differentiated content as we grow.”
