New Jersey Online Gambling Brief February 13, 2014
For the second consecutive month the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement’s iGaming revenue reports have left analysts scratching their heads and trying to determine where the market is heading. The numbers for January, like those in December are in a gray area; neither overly promising nor overly disappointing, with no clear headlines to push, only speculation.
But speculate we must, and I’ll be doing a little bit of that in this week’s installment of the New Jersey Online Gambling Brief as I look at the latest revenue numbers among other topics.
I’ll also be detailing WSOP.com’s online satellites to the World Series of Poker, and what the changes to the Party Poker & Borgata $50k Guarantee will mean for the tournament moving forward.
Keep reading for the specifics on these stories and a whole lot more from the world of New Jersey online gambling.
WSOP.com running online satellites to the WSOP
This week the World Series of poker schedule was revealed, marking the first time the WSOP will be held with WSOP.com offering legal online poker in the US—to Nevada and New Jersey at least.
Why is the addition of online satellites such a big deal? Just consider that the WSOP schedule prominently features links to the online (ONLINE) satellites being offered at the WSOP.com online poker room.
Not only does this make it easier for players to find and enter these online tournaments but it also adds to the legitimacy of online poker in the eyes of the general public.
OnlinePokerReport.com has a complete breakdown of the various WSOP satellite tournaments being offered in New Jersey as well as the satellites in Nevada.
Want even more reasons why this is a big deal? Check out this column at NevadaPokerReviews.com.
Changes at Party/Borgata exceed all expectations
Last week we told you about the changes to the $50k Guaranteed Sunday tournament at partypoker & Borgata, which we anticipated would elicit a positive response from the poker community. Well, considering last week’s turnout for the tournament, the community has spoken and they have spoken loudly, as 378 players registered for the tournament, shattering the record for the largest weekly tournament in New Jersey.
Player complaints about the tournament were fairly minor, so the changes implemented were relatively small and addressed all of the player concerns that had been voiced—well most of them anyway, I’m sure Allen Kessler still has some unresolved issues with the structure.
Last week’s success also led to partypoker making a huge announcement concerning the March 2nd Sunday $50k guarantee, which I’ll detail in the “We Thought You Should Know…” section below.
New Jersey’s January revenue numbers are in
Adam Krejcik set the “disappointment/we can live with it” line at $10 million, and the NJ iGaming companies came in at $9.5 million. Not quite low enough to be a major disappointment, and not high enough to be “ok.”
The market is being utterly dominated by The Borgata and Caesars Entertainment, who collectively accounted for 87% of the revenue collected from iGaming. The two companies have an even tighter stranglehold on the online poker market, where they make up roughly 97% of the market.
Borgata operates two online poker sites in New Jersey, NJ.PartyPoker.com and BorgataPoker.com (which operate on the same network. Caesars also operates two online poker rooms, WSOP.com and US.888Poker.com, but these two sites are independent rooms and do not pool their players.
Caesars was the biggest gainer in January, seeing their overall casino and poker revenue spike 42% from their December tally, while Betfair saw poker revenue plummet some 88%—of course the site only made $90 in December and a mere $11 in January from their online poker room so 88% is a bit subjective.
The total tax revenue collected from iGaming since the industry’s launch in late November now stands at $2.65 million.
Marco Valerio has an excellent breakdown of the figures posted on his website.
You can also find excellent commentary on the latest revenue report at PokerFuse.com and at USPoker.com.
We thought you should know…
- On March 2nd, NJ.PartyPoker.com and BorgataPoker.com will toss aside the measly $50k Guarantee they offer in their weekly Sunday major and replace it with a massive $100k Guarantee. This is one you definitely don’t want miss. Here are the complete details and information on how to win your way into the tournament at NJ.PartyPoker.com.
- Ultimate Poker’s NO-verlay promotion is off to a tepid but promising start in New Jersey, as traffic was up over 30% in their $20k Sunday Guaranteed tournament, but still $7,000 short of becoming a NO-verlay event. Here are my expanded thoughts on the promotion and why it could be a game-changer in NJ.
- The World Poker Tour Championship has been moved from the Bellagio to the Borgata this year, and will now be part of the Borgata Spring Poker Open. The WPT revealed the dates for the Borgata Spring Poker Open tournament series on Wednesday, which will run from April 8th through the 26th; the final schedule has yet to be hashed out. Watch this space.
