NJ Online Gambling Revenues Soar 22.8% In December

After plunging to a new low of just $8.74 million in November, New Jersey’s online gambling market bounced back 22.8% in December with $10.7 million in revenues. Settling into its now familiar pattern, online casinos produced the bulk of revenues worth $8.68 million, a 26.5% improvement compared to November, while online poker accounted for $2.06 million, also up by  10.1% from the $1.87 million generated during the previous month.
Overall, the Garden State’s two main online poker licensees, namely Borgata and Caesars (WSOP.com, 888poker), accounted for 53.9% and 46.1% respectively of the iPoker market in December, with Party Borgata reporting an 11.3% increase in revenues, and WSOP.com and 888poker a 7.79% improvement.
Looking ahead, analysts are predicting further growth in the market for January, as the player sharing deal agreed between WSOP.com and 888Poker gains traction. The WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship set to coincide with the online poker series known as the Garden State Super Series is also expected to boost online traffic further this month.
While New Jersey’s online gambling revenues compared favorably over November’s results, a yearly comparison is more revealing, with online casino games better by 63.6% over December 2013, while online poker was lower by 29% using the same comparison point. The figures show the elevated importance of online casinos compared to poker, and as a recent report by the state’s Casino Control Commission, explains:
“At the launch of Internet gaming in New Jersey, there was a perception that online poker would predominate over slots and other online games. This prediction has not been correct. From inception through November 30, 2014, poker accounts for only 25% of New Jersey’s Internet revenue while the remaining 75% consists of other authorized casino games.”
When brick-and-mortar casinos are included, NJ gambling industry was 11.2% lower at $190.5 million in December, and overall revenues in 2014 totalled $2.74 billion in 2014, almost half the $5.2 billion in revenues reported in 2006 during the peak of New Jersey’s casino industry.