New Jersey Online Gambling Brief February 6, 2014
While the state of New Jersey was busy with Super Bowl Week festivities and prepping for the big game, the online gambling industry in the state trudged along through the distractions, but not without some struggles, as traffic numbers experienced their first sharp decline since the NJ iGaming sites launched on November 26th.
But there were plenty of good things happening too.
In this installment of the New Jersey Online Gambling Brief we’ll cover a number of these stories, starting with partypoker hosting their New Jersey’s Next Poker Millionaire live final table at the Borgata, as well as examining the brewing fight between billionaires over US iGaming, and New Jersey’s efforts to lure in international iGaming providers.
Keep reading for the specifics on these stories and a whole lot more from the world of online gambling in the Garden State.
New Jersey’s Next Poker Millionaire
The first major online poker promotion held in New Jersey was the partypoker run New Jersey’s Next Poker Millionaire, where eight players (lucky and good enough to navigate their way through a large field online semi-final) would meet at a live, televised final table at the Borgata to play for a $1,000,000 first-place prize-package.
This past Saturday that final table happened, and with what was at stake it had all the drama, excitement and human interest stories that partypoker set out to create when they announced the promotion back during the launch of online gambling in November.
The winner of the tournament was Miroslaw Woroch, a 40 year old amateur player who will not only add $850,000 in cash to his bank account, but will also have the chance to hone his poker skills over the next year with over $150,000 worth of tournament entries.
You can find a complete report from the final table, and take a look at the grand prize package and the consolation prizes the players won HERE.
How do you like your iGaming battles; shaken or stirred?
We now know that Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling doesn’t have a monopoly on the online gambling lobby anymore, considering another well-funded group (on the other side of the debate) has now emerged, the MGM backed Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection.
It looks like a major battle is brewing between the two groups, and if I was a betting man (who am I kidding, of course I’m a betting man!) I would put my money on the C4COP over the CSIG. Even with Steve Wynn publicly siding with Adelson (he hasn’t financially backed him and let’s not forget that Wynn is currently petitioning for a NJ iGaming license which is now up in the air) the smart money is still on C4COP.
Why you ask? For the following reasons:
- Adelson’s arguments have never been grounded in data, as Chris Grove has pointed out numerous times over at OnlinePokerReport.com
- Three states have already legalized online gambling and it’s harder to undo something than stop it before it gets going
Chances are this battle will wage on until the government comes down on one side or another; which means we could be in for many, many months of dueling op-eds and social media fights. So, if you are anything like me, and love yourself some good drama, this will certainly be a very exciting time in the history of iGaming.
New Jersey makes another push to be iGaming hub
A bill that would allow foreign online gaming providers to setup shop in New Jersey (this bill would not allow New Jersey residents to play at these sites) has once again been introduced into the New Jersey legislature according to the Press of Atlantic City.
This bill was also introduced during the last session, and while it sounds interesting in theory, many feel it would do little to lure overseas providers to New Jersey. Yes, they would benefit from the New Jersey regulations, and the peace of mind that type of oversight would bring to their customers, but it would come at a high price in the form of taxes.
We thought you should know…
- Beginning this week the partypoker $50k Guaranteed tournament in New Jersey will undergo a slight structural change intended to improve upon the current tournament. After player complaints of early morning finishes, the $50k Guaranteed will now begin three hours earlier, and will also offer a second guarantee: a $10,000 first-place prize.
- According to a report on PokerFuse.com, NJ.PartyPoker.com and BorgataPoker.com are now HUD compatible for PokerTracker users; the other major tracking software option, Holdem Manager, has worked on party/Borgata since launch in NJ.
- New Jersey is in the midst of their first traffic slowdown, as Party/Borgata and WSOP.com have seen traffic tick down over the past week according to www.pokerscout.com’s traffic numbers. Party/Borgata had been as high as 260 average cash-game players but that number has dipped down to 220; WSOP.com went from 220 players just last week to 190; while US.888Poker.com has gained a little ground, and is now averaging 130 players.
