NJ online poker revenue continues to plummet reaching a new low point for 2019 during the month of April.
According to revenue figures released by the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), online poker operators in the state of New Jersey brought in just $1.67 million in revenue in April. Last year, during the same period, licensed operators generated over $1.7 million.
April revenue figures represent a drop of 5.3% year-on-year, a trend that has become a norm with online poker in the state, and a 12.4% decrease on a monthly basis. April’s revenues also represent the lowest level for any April since the regulated online poker market opened in November 2013.
Each of the three licensed operators experienced declining revenue figures on a sequential basis.
PokerStars through its partnership with Resorts reported $559,074 in revenue, increasing its market share slightly to 33.5% and representing a drop of 8.91% from March figures, during which the operator generated over $600,000 but held a market share of 32.2%.
The partnership of Borgata/partypoker raked in the third lowest amount since November 2013 with a total of $390,96 for a market share of just 23.4%. Only twice since the online poker market went live in the Garden State has Borgata/partypoker reported revenues lower than in April 2019. The rooms under the Borgata license also saw a significant drop of 19.11% from March figures when revenues totaled $483,326.
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Meanwhile, the market leader, WSOP/888, operating on the All American Poker Network (AAPN) under the Caesars license, led the market for the sixth month in a row, generating $717,942 in online poker revenue. The network increased its market share slightly from 42.4% to 43% but saw revenues drop by 11% from the figures reported in March despite hosting the Spring Online Championships series in April boasting over $1.3 million in prize money.
Ever since the DGE cleared shared liquidity in May 2018, allowing operators to share their player pools with their players in Nevada and Delaware, the AAPN is the only operator to post revenue increases year-over-year thanks to it holding a license in the other states. It also led the market on a monthly basis every month since the implementation of shared liquidity except in the month of October 2018, which saw PokerStars lead the market that month.
However, the revenues of AAPN poker rooms could see a sharp decline thanks to the reinterpretation of the Wire Act by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in January that would make cross-border liquidity sharing illegal. The DOJ has given operators a June 14 deadline to bring their online gaming offering in line with the new reinterpretation of the Wire Act.
Should the DOJ enforce the revised opinion on June 14, WSOP/888 network which shares liquidity between the three states could be severely impacted and see Resorts/PokerStars partnership return back to the number one position in the market.
While the matter is still in the courts, the WSOP/888 network has scheduled its largest ever Online Championships with a total guaranteed prize pool of over $3.5 million. The schedule does not feature the nine WSOP online bracelet events that are set to run on every Sunday and Wednesday throughout the next seven weeks.
New Jersey players will be allowed to participate in these online events that are scheduled to run ahead of the June 14 deadline set by the DOJ.
However, it still remains to be seen whether New Jersey players will be allowed to play events that take place after the looming deadline.
