New Jersey Online Poker Up 10.1% To $2.06m In December

Home » Poker News » New Jersey Online Poker Up 10.1% To $2.06m In December

Thursday, January 15th, 2015 | Written by Stephen Smith

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has released its gambling results for December, revealing a 22.8% increase in online revenues to $10.7 million compared to the previous month. From that tally, casino games were up by 26.5% to $8.68 million, while online poker, too, noted a 10.1% improvement in revenues to $2.06 million. When New Jersey’s brick-and-mortar casinos are included, gambling revenues came in at $190.5 million in December, a 11.2% decrease compared to the $214.5 million generated in December 2013.

Online Poker Up 10.1%

In December, New Jersey’s online poker market reversed three months of decline after posting a 10.1% improvement in revenues to $2.06 million, compared to the $1.87 million taken in November.

New Jersey has two main poker licensees, namely the Borgata (Party Borgata) and Caesars (WSOP.com, 888poker), and last month Party Borgata reported an 11.3% improvement in revenues month on month, while WSOP.com and 888poker noted a 7.79% increase compared to November. The online poker results show Party Borgata enjoying a 53.9% share of NJ’s iPoker market compared to 46.1% for Caesars in December, and a 52.7% to 45.7% spread for 2014 as a whole.

Rather disappointingly, however, the state’s first month over month online poker comparison revealed revenues lower by 29% than the $2.9 million generated in December 2013.

iPoker Revenues To Continue Upwards In January

Looking ahead, online poker is expected to keep on trending upwards in January, helped along by the land based $3 Million Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship which will coincide with the sixty-nine event online poker series known as the Garden State Super Series.

In addition, a recent liquidity sharing arrangement agreed between WSOP.com and 888Poker to combine players across a number of selected tournaments, and small stakes cash games is also expected to have a positive effect on January’s online poker revenues. This deal is also likely to pave the way for further collaborations in the future outside of the state, and as a recent report entitled ‘New Jersey Internet Gaming One Year Anniversary – Achievements to Date and Goals for the Future’, points out:

“This type of cooperation between jurisdictions is very important for building liquidity in peer-to-peer games such as poker. The legislation that authorized Internet gaming specifically permits the Division to enter into multi-jurisdictional agreements. The Division has been in discussions with other jurisdictions, such as Nevada and the United Kingdom, but no compacts have been entered to date.”

Online Gambling Up 63% Y-O-Y

In December, online casino games were better by 26.5% compared to November’s numbers, and including poker overall online gambling revenues of $10.7 million were a significant 63.6% higher than the results reported for December 2013. Nevertheless, online casino games have been responsible for the bulk of the gains noted, and while poker initially attracted the most interest from investors pre-regulation, reality now shows online casinos provide the real prize for operators. Highlighting this last point, the New Jersey report mentioned stated:

“At the launch of Internet gaming in New Jersey, there was a perception that online poker would predominate over slots and other online games. This prediction has not been correct. From inception through November 30, 2014, poker accounts for only 25% of New Jersey’s Internet revenue while the remaining 75% consists of other authorized casino games. Not all of New Jersey’s platforms offer poker, but the percentage breakdown for revenue on platforms that offer both poker and casino games is approximately 40% poker and 60% other authorized games.”

Land-based Casino Revenues $2.74bn In 2014

Land-based casino generated $190.5 million in December, 11.2% less than the $214.5 million during for the same month in 2013. With all the monthly results now in, New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has revealed that Atlantic City’s casino industry has lost almost half its revenue since 2006. Back then, the state’s casinos generated $5.2 billion in revenues, but in 2014 that figure has now fallen to $2.74 billion

Last year also saw four of AC’s twelve casino shut shop, with more than 8,000 workers subsequently losing their jobs. Putting a positive slant on December’s numbers, however, excluding those casinos which have exited the market, AC’s remaining gambling venues actually saw their revenues increase by 8% in 2014.

“The closure of four casinos last year was a traumatic contraction of the industry, but it clearly has left us with a casino industry that is better positioned for growth in the future,” explained Matt Levinson, chairman of the NJ Casino Control Commission.