New Jersey Online Gambling Brief: Last Chance to Capitalize on Summer Promos
As we lament the end of another summer here in New Jersey, we take solace in the fact that there is still one more week to host a barbecue, take a serene stroll alongside the beach and of course capitalize on the many generous promotions offered by the Garden State’s regulated online gambling sites that are about to expire.
That’s not to say the changing of the leaves won’t bring with it a slew of new lucrative player incentives. In fact, with each passing season the state’s nascent iGaming industry seems to up the ante even further.
We’ll take a look at the best promos and discuss why this fall will mark the beginning of a long transition for New Jersey’s gambling scene; one that may turn the landscape of both the brick and mortar and online industry’s completely on its head.
Last chance to opt into summer promos
Among the many promos I’ve had the liberty of sorting through, the following stood out as some of the most rewarding to players:
- Borgata Ultimate Entertainment Package: One of the longest running promotions in the industry, the BUEP rewards players that accumulate 60 iRPs (player loyalty points) on Thursdays with an entry into a high profile sweepstakes. Winners receive a $150 dining credit and one night stay at the Borgata, as well as two tickets to a show of their choice. Ends August 28th.
- Virgin Casino Monthly Kickback: Players who wager at least $1,000 at VirginCasino.com will earn 5% cashback on total net losses for the month of August, up to $500. What better way to start September then to log onto hundreds of dollars in free cash? This promotion goes the way of the dinosaur on August 31st.
- Betfair’s Summer Concerts Points Race: If you’re a regular slot or table games junket on Betfair, now is the time to hit the virtual terminals hard. Either that or refer your friends to Betfair’s site. Those who accumulate the most points will receive prizes ranging from cash credits on BetfairCasino.com to tickets to a Live Nation show of their choice at the PNC Bank Arts Center or Susquehanna Bank Center. Ends August 31st.
- CaesarsCasino.com Live Like a Winner: Another sweepstakes promo that gifts frequenters with an increasing amount of entries based on play. Grand winners (to be drawn on September 1st) will receive lavish prizes including butler service and entry into red carpet premiers. The last day to opt in is August 28th.
- WSOP’s Turbo SNG Leaderboards: There’s nothing quite like a little friendly (or hostile) competition, especially when the reward for doing well is cold hard cash. Players who run well at WSOP’s 9-man turbo SNG will receive cash rewards proportionate to their final standing. This week marks the fourth and final week of the promotion.
While not an exceptional promotion on its own, it’s worth noting that the Golden Nugget’s online casino is offering players a free $5 bonus for downloading and installing its mobile software on iOS and Android devices.
Golden Nugget is the latest site to release a mobile version of its software. Together with its vastly improved array of game selections it appears the Nugget may to poised to break the seven figure gross revenue barrier for the first time this August.
Last month, GoldenNuggetCasino.com raked in $944,840 – nearly a quarter-million more than its previous high.
Out with the old, in with the love
One new promotion that struck me as particularly rewarding is Virgin Casino’s Virgin Hearts You $500 Gift Card promo. Although on the surface it’s merely another random entry type promotion, players do earn entries at an exceedingly accelerated rate – one per $20 wagered on slots and $50 on any other game.
Winners will receive a gift card of their choice from Best Buy, Amazon and several other options, with Grand Prize winners awarded $500 worth of cards and other recipients $100.
The VHeartsU roll out also compliments its sister site’s $100k Summer Giveaway promo nicely.
Like many of the aforementioned promotions, Virgin Hearts You ends this Thursday.
What to expect this September from NJ’s gaming industry
This September will perhaps be the busiest month in New Jersey gambling history since the Borgata first opened its Vegas-inspired doors in July, 2003.
Over the course of the next several weeks, three of Atlantic City’s casinos – Trump Plaza, Revel and Showboat – will spin their reels for the last time.
If Trump Plaza and Showboat, are long standing relics of a time gone then Revel is a quintessential example of a modern restoration gone horribly wrong.
Showboat will be the first of the three to power down, receiving final approval to close on August 31. Its closure will be quickly followed by Revel’s on September 1st and 2nd, then presumably Trump Plaza’s on the 16th.
Suffice to say, it will be a mournful month in Atlantic City.
On a brighter note…
…the Borgata boasted a $43.2 million operating profit in Q2 2014 – up $15.1 million or 53 percent over last year. This indicates that while Atlantic City is suffering as a whole, patrons are still visiting its most vaulted casinos.
Surprisingly enough, the Showboat touted an operational profit gain of $7.6 million, much to the chagrin of the more than 2,000 casino employees that will be handed their pink slips at the end of the week.
Resorts also managed a comeback of sorts, going from $1.3 million in the red last Q2 to $2 million in the black most recently. However, last year’s losses can mostly be attributed to the construction of its Margaritaville complex.
The Borgata Poker Open and Garden State Super Series
The Borgata is well positioned to make another killing in September, on both the live and virtual fronts, thanks to the roll out of its hotly anticipated Poker Open and its online counterpart, the Garden State Super Series.
One, a live tournament extravaganza whose three featured events boast a minimum combined $6 million prize pool. The other, a prestigious $1 million online series set to run parallel with the live component, which at least in theory should propel it above the heights set forth by the industry’s prior tournament series.
Regardless of what the future may hold for Atlantic City, it’s refreshing to know that at least one casino should be around for the long haul.
Meadowlands talk
Expect discussions regarding the construction of what now is a proposed casino complex at the Meadowlands to heat up even further this September. Prompted by the mass closures in Atlantic City and as a reaction to cannibalization from the PA gaming market, the Meadowlands proposal would see voters decide whether the entertainment complex is expanded to include two casino hotel resorts, a convention center and slot machines at the Meadowlands racetrack.
But before the project can get off the ground, there is still one issue, and it’s a glaring one: Money. The state’s Transportation Trust Fund is currently bankrupt and to date prospective casino licensees have not made their intentions clear.
Perhaps by the time the first leaf gains a tinge of yellow, we’ll have a clearer picture of what NJ’s lawmakers and business leaders have planned.
Welcome PokerStars
After a tumultuous road that saw the online poker giant have its iGaming application suspended by the DGE, lose its bid to purchase the now defunct Atlantic Club and see its parent company be acquired by until recently the little known Amaya Gaming, PokerStars is finally preparing for its return to U.S. soil.
While only partially significant from a microcosmic standpoint, PokerStars reentry hails the return of the most widely respected brand in online poker to a location where it once dominated. Whether the revenues it, alongside Full Tilt Casino, helps NJ’s iGaming market to generate are enough to sway states on the proverbial fence from pushing iGaming legislature, and perhaps more importantly, to convince California and Pennsylvania lawmakers to reconsider their bad actor stances is currently unknown.
But what is known is that the next few months will be telling in regards to what kind of impact a company that was removed from the U.S. nearly three-and-a-half years ago still has on the online poker community.
My guess: a significant one.
