Online poker rooms in New Jersey operating under the Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) license recorded their second consecutive month of generating the most revenue in the market, according to June figures released last week by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
CIE employs the services of the All-American Poker Network (AAPN), which is comprised of WSOP.com and 888poker, to offer online poker in New Jersey.
In total, CIE reported nearly $815,000 in online poker revenue in June, its highest amount since April 2016 which was the first full month of operation in the New Jersey market for PokerStars, the leading online poker brand in the world.
Overall, online poker in New Jersey generated $1.76 million in June.
The success of WSOP.com and 888poker helped boost overall online poker revenue in New Jersey to its first period of year-over-year growth since February 2017. Though annual growth clocked in at a modest 1.3%, the average decline over that 16-month period exceeded 11%.
The World Series of Poker Effect
Shared liquidity prompted WSOP.com to expand its online poker offering as part of the World Series of Poker which recently concluded its seven-week run in Las Vegas.
The 2018 World Series of Poker summer schedule included more online bracelet events than ever before (four in total, three with guaranteed prize pools), and for the first time, players in New Jersey were able to compete online for a WSOP bracelet.
As a result, Matthew 'mendey’ Mendez became the first player to win an online WSOP bracelet from anywhere outside of Nevada. Mendez took down Event #47: $565 WSOP.com ONLINE Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed event for $135,077.
Shared Liquidity Matters
It is undeniable that combining players from Nevada and Delaware with the player pool in New Jersey had a significant impact.
Revenue figures for CIE have skyrocketed since sharing liquidity, with sequential year-over-year increases of 42% and 73% in May and June respectively. During that period other New Jersey online poker operators have seen their revenue figures drop an average of 27% from 2017.
Following the implementation of new regulations that allow online poker operators in New Jersey to combine their player pools with their customers in other states that authorize online poker, AAPN took the lead as the top online poker revenue generator in New Jersey.
AAPN began sharing liquidity between its operations in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware just prior to May 1 which catapulted it to the top of the New Jersey market.
No other online poker operator in New Jersey has had the luxury of expanding its player pool in a similar fashion because AAPN is currently the only regulated online poker room offering services in the US outside of New Jersey. But that will soon change.
Pennsylvania Online Poker Promises Further Growth
Online poker is expected to go live in Pennsylvania later this year making the Keystone State the fourth state in the country to adopt online poker.
Online gaming legislation was signed into law late last year, and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced this week that it has received nine petitions from state casino operators looking to conduct online gaming in the state. The approvals sought include explicit authorization to offer online poker.
With that much interest from current license holders in Pennsylvania, PokerStars and partypoker are very likely to have a presence in the state. Pennsylvania is expected to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement soon after the market opens providing further growth opportunity for online poker revenue in New Jersey.
