NJ iPoker Growth Set To Outpace Online Casinos in 2018

In 2017, New Jersey’s online gambling revenues spiked by an impressive 25% to $245.6 million versus the previous year, while this year the market has got off to the best possible start after hitting a peak of $21.96 million in January, besting the previous record set in March of 2017 by around 296k.
Responsible for driving New Jersey’s market forward has been the state’s online casinos which posted a collective 30.1% revenue increase last year, compared to online poker which saw its business contract by 8.5% over the same period. That may all be about to change in 2018, though, with a recent report released by market analysts Robert DellaFave and Ryan Ocello predicting revenue growth of just 10.6% for New Jersey’s online casino, compared to a positive year-over-year growth of 11.8% for online poker.
According to the report, the dramatic turnaround will occur as a result of New Jersey’s online gambling market reaching maturity, and operators subsequently switching more of their money and effort towards setting up online businesses in Pennsylvania following the neighboring state’s decision to pass iGambling legislation last year.
While this is expected to result in a significantly reduced rate of growth for New Jersey’s iGambling market than witnessed in previous years, online poker is expected to pick up the slack somewhat. The main reason cited for this is the significant boost that its market will receive after New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware enact the interstate poker liquidity deal that they agreed last year, leading to greater numbers of potential players, and more opportunities for operators.
Pennsylvania has signaled that it would also be prepared to join the shared iPoker network once its own industry is up and running, although it is unlikely to reach that stage before 2019. In the meantime, the landmark interstate poker agreement may motivate other states to pass legislation of their own, including New York, Michigan, and Illinois, therefore facilitating even more growth within the online poker market.
Amongst the factors cited which may stymie the authors’ optimistic predictions, however, is a delay in the liquidity
sharing compact being launched, or online poker operators directing their resources to Pennsylvania’s emerging poker market, instead.