New Jersey Online Gambling Brief June 5, 2014
After what seemed like week after week of breaking news, announcements and general buzz, the New Jersey online poker industry has fallen into a holding pattern of sorts.
The cynicism by some is certainly unwarranted (a failure to meet ridiculous expectations shouldn’t be held up as a sign of the industry’s success)but the optimism that was on display through January also seems to have been misplaced.
While the industry is still moving along, the initial interest has waned and people have moved on to other stories.
New Jersey’s iGaming headlines have been replaced by Sheldon Adelson as online gambling talks in Pennsylvania and California have continued to happen. However, its market has peaked and is now on a downward trajectory as its operators have started to cut back on their initial marketing blitzes.
In this week’s column we’ll take a look at the current state of the NJ market and at the stories you may have missed coming out of the New Jersey market over the past week, as we continue to try to do our part and revive interest in the largest legal online poker market in the US.
New Jersey Traffic Slide Continues
For New Jersey online poker rooms the doldrums of Spring have given way to the doldrums of Summer, with traffic levels continuing to paint an underwhelming picture of the New Jersey market as a whole.
Market leader Party /Borgata is down to just 140 cash-game players according to pokerscout.com, while WSOP.com NJ has closed what had been a significant gap and now stands within striking distance at 120 average cash game players.
It would be nice to say that Party /Borgata’s losses have been WSOP.com’s gains. The more accurate assessment is that WSOP.com’s losses haven’t been as pronounced. Everyone is trending downward in NJ.
At the same time Party/Borgata has been experiencing its dramatic slide, it’s a third poker site in the state that has fallen the farthest, at least in terms of percentages.
888’s All American Poker Network has lost over 50% of its player base in the past couple months, falling from an average high of 120 cash-game players to just 50 at present.
WSOP Changes Rakeback; Players Not Thrilled
Adjustments to a rakeback program are never met with much praise by the poker community as there is always some element that negatively impacts one group of players or another.
They are even less well-received when done behind the scenes and with little warning. This was the case with the recent adjustments to the rakeback percentages WSOP.com New Jersey will be doling out to its players.
Here is what players can expect from the new Reward’s levels:
The Good: WSOP.com has added several new levels, allowing players to climb more rungs on the VIP ladder, and has boosted the maximum rakeback for the highest tier of the program.
The Bad: Rakeback percentages were significantly cut for just about every other tier.
And here is a side by side comparison of the WSOP.com NJ VIP Program before and after the changes
| VIP TIER | BEFORE | AFTER |
| Bronze | (new level) | 1% |
| Silver | 8% | 2% |
| Silver+ | (new level) | 3% |
| Gold | 10% | 4% |
| Gold+ | (new level) | 5% |
| Platinum | 12% | 6% |
| Platinum+ | (new level) | 7% |
| Diamond | 15% | 8% |
| Diamond+ | (new level) | 9% |
| Elite | 20% | 20% |
| Seven Stars | 30% | 35% |
WSOP.com’s Head of Online Poker Bill Rini, explained the changes on the 2+2 forum this past week where he cited the market and cautioned players to look at WSOP.com’s promotional offerings in total.
WSOP.com’s Online Championship
This Sunday marks the halfway point as Event # 8 of the WSOP.com Online Championships in New Jersey will take place with the site hosting a $100,000 guaranteed tournament with a $530 buy-in.
This is the second largest guarantee of the 15-day tournament series. Trumped only by the $215 reentry event that will close out the series, which is a tournament that features a $200,000 guarantee.
The Online Championships were setup to coincide with the WSOP in Las Vegas, and in addition to the New Jersey schedule (which you can check out here) the WSOP.com Nevada is running an identical schedule for WSOP.com players in that state.
Poker-Only Bills Sweeping The Nation
Online poker bills are hot right now.
At the state level both California and Pennsylvania are looking into poker-only online gambling expansion, and there are even grumblings about a poker-only carveout bill at the federal level.
Here are some links to get you caught on this new poker-only invasion:
Online Gambling Talk Heats Up in Pennsylvania; But Is it All Bark and No Bite?
All Tribes But One Agree on New California Online Poker Bill
Key California Tribes Reach Agreement on Online Poker Bill
Newly Proposed Federal Bill Contains Online Poker Carveout
Ultimate Poker’s Me vs. U
Need a laugh?
Well if you do Ultimate Poker’s Dan O’Brien has you covered as he tries to learn some Cirque De Soleil tricks with fellow UP Pro Danielle Anderson. The premise of the series is that the pros compete in oddball challenges and then the loser has to do something humiliating, not that the challenges aren’t humiliating mind you.
