Poker News

New Jersey’s monthly online gambling revenue figures were once again favorable compared to last year, but online poker is lagging behind, according to the latest report issued by the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE).

Total internet gaming win, which includes both casino games (roulette, slots, video poker, blackjack, etc.) and online poker, was $11.7 million in June, a stout increase of 22.8 percent over the $9.5 million made in the same month last year. The vast majority of that money came from casino games, or what the DGE calls “Other Authorized Games.” Those types of games brought in $9.8 million in revenue. In June of last year, that number was about $7.5 million, so casino games showed 31.9 percent growth. Online poker, or Peer-to-Peer” games, had $1.8 million in gaming win, down 10.4 percent from the $2.0 million generated in June 2014.

It’s a similar story year to date. Through the first half of 2014, total internet gaming win in New Jersey was $63.1 million; it has increased 14.2 percent to about $72.0 million in the first half of 2015. Casino game revenue rose 28.6 percent, from $46.4 million to $59.7 million, while online poker revenue has declined 26.1 percent, from $16.7 million to $12.3 million.

There have been some changes in New Jersey’s online gambling market since a year ago. The Trump Plaza, which had about $500,000 in online gaming win via Betfair.com in June 2014, is no more. Betfair moved over to the Golden Nugget, so that loss of Trump Plaza was cancelled out (in fact, the $2.5 million in online revenue in June 2015 for the Golden Nugget is still $1.3 million more than the Golden Nugget and Trump Plaza’s combined figures in June 2014, so something is going right over there). Resorts launched an online casino in February 2015, so its $400,000 for June 2014 is compared to zero for June 2014.

Thus, it seems like the poker loss could be traced to the Trump Taj Mahal, which was once partnered with Ultimate Poker. Ultimate Poker closed in September 2014, so its gaming win is counted in the June 2014 figures, but obviously not June 2015’s. In reality, though, Ultimate Poker barely moved the needle, contributing just $30,420 of online poker revenue in June 2014.

Compared to May 2015, internet numbers are down a bit. Last month, total internet gaming win was $12.5 million compared to $11.7 million in June. Online poker was down slightly, from $1.9 million to the aforementioned $1.8 million. Casino games, as one might now guess, also declined from May to June, $10.5 million to $9.8 million. Any number of reasons could be guessed for the drop. The weather was getting warmer, people went on vacation when school let out, the heaviest online players may have traveled to Nevada for the World Series of Poker, etc. Or maybe it was just a down month.

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