- Commercial Intelligence (CI) announced that the introduction of regulation in New Jersey had been successful in attracting players away from “gray” market sites.
- 37% of players with accounts at non-New Jersey regulated online poker rooms have opened accounts at the newly regulated sites
- This report suggests that the new New Jersey sites will have an adverse effect on play at the dot-com US facing sites which are not state regulated.
- A look at cash game traffic numbers shows that in fact the reverse is happening.
At the ICE Totally Gaming Exhibition in London last week, research company Commercial Intelligence (CI) announced that the introduction of regulation in New Jersey had been successful in attracting players away from “gray” market sites.
The company reported that 37% of players with accounts at non-New Jersey regulated online poker rooms have opened accounts at the newly regulated sites.
The research is surprising, because cash game traffic numbers have been growing for the non-state regulated sites targeting the US market. Since the beginning of the year, average cash game traffic has increased by almost 400 players, approximately 13%—the entire New Jersey market averages around 560 up just under 10% over the same period.
The research was based on a survey of 505 New Jersey residents. Head of Research, Geoffrey Dixon said, “of the online players that we researched just two weeks ago, 35% had only begun gaming online following New Jersey’s decision in November 2013. This level of take-up, coupled with the movement to approved sites, represents a compelling fiscal case study for states seeking to cut their budget deficits.”
The raw numbers from the CI research and from cash game statistics do not provide the reason for the apparent contradiction. The CI finding that 35% are new to online gaming may indicate that players switching to regulated sites are being replaced by new players attracted by the widespread media coverage of the New Jersey market. Alternatively, players may be simply adding the New Jersey sites and continuing to play at their previous online poker room.
