Market Monitor: New Jersey October 2018

Online poker revenue in New Jersey rebounded slightly from its all-time low in September with operators posting a combined $1.65 million in revenue in October, according to figures released last week by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE).

However, poker continues to lag behind previous years, with October representing another month in 2018 that saw the lowest amount of revenue for that month in the market’s five-year history. Year-over-year, poker has declined for 19 of the past 20 months, with the only exception coming in June during the World Series of Poker and following the implantation of liquidity sharing between Caesars partners in New Jersey and those in Nevada and Delaware.

Resorts and its online poker software provider, PokerStars, recaptured the lead in the market last month with $640,548 in revenue, breaking the five-month streak of WSOP.com and 888 (operating under the Caesars license) that resulted from the sharing of player pools across state lines.

Despite the surge by PokerStars, the Caesars providers continue to be the only ones in the market to post year-over-year increases, a trend that has been running for six months.

In all, online gaming (including sports betting) generated $35.6 million in revenue last month, second only to September 2018. It was another record month for online casino, with operators under the Golden Nugget license continuing to dominate the market with $9.7 million of the $26.8 million in total reported.

Sports betting revenue in the state (both from online and land-based venues) dropped dramatically in October (generating $11.7 million) from its high in September of $23.8 million. The lower revenue figures come as total sports betting handle rose in October by 42%.

For sports bettors, online wagering became the clear method of choice with 76% of all revenue from sports betting being generated online.