New Jersey recorded over $21 million in revenue from their online gambling market last month. This staggering amount trumped the old record for first month revenue ($18.8 million) and is a positive sign for what is to come with US online gambling. As one of the first states to launch state regulated online gambling, New Jersey provides an enticing model for other states to follow. These figures do not include revenue streams that are directed offshore through licensed Atlantic City online gambling sites.
New Jersey provides both online poker sites and online casinos—all of which are regulated by the state. Golden Nugget, one of their online casinos, recorded over $6 million in revenue. The online casino’s popularity (and revenue) has been on the rise and doesn’t show any signs of slowing. Resorts is another online casino that had a successful month posting $1.2 million in revenue. Caesars is the only online casino that had dwindling numbers, a trend that looks to become stagnant, despite their successful early start.
It is worth noting that the lion’s share of online gambling revenue is coming through the online casinos, not the online poker rooms. By the numbers, online poker didn’t do very well. PokerStars has been operating for a year now and was expected to blow up, but the numbers seem to have plateaued with the NJ online poker market. All of the online gambling sites have recorded low numbers with their online poker rooms. It is unclear whether the reason for this is due to difficulty competing with the Atlantic City online poker sites located offshore. As it stands, the online gambling market is appearing to be quite successful. It has become clear that NJ residents prefer the online casino side of things, but that doesn’t spell anything negative for the industry as a whole. Online poker has always been somewhat of a niche, and online poker players are usually particular about where they bet.
Out of the $21 million in revenue, only $2.25 million came from online poker. The more significant thing to factor is that this is a -6.3% change from February’s recorded online poker revenue. Meanwhile, online casinos are enjoying their 18% increase from February and put up $19.5 million. At the end of the day, the real winner is New Jersey, specifically the legislators who pushed for online gambling in the state. That revenue stream can be funneled back into the state and go towards things like education, infrastructure and more.
The exciting thing about New Jersey’s success is that it will likely catch the attention of other states who haven’t yet moved to host online gambling. Gambling is a touchy subject that varies from state to state, but no state can deny the financial implications an industry like that can bring. The majority of online gambling happens through offshore gambling sites, leaving states high and dry when it comes to a potentially lucrative revenue stream. New Jersey is becoming the standard that pro-online gambling legislators will use when pushing for it in their respective states, and with numbers like the ones New Jersey has been putting out, it’s a standard most would be keen to emulate.