ON TRACK: Poker Revenue Remains Steady in New Jersey, Rises in Pennsylvania

Legal online poker in the US continues to show year-over-year growth. The legal states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware have maintained a solid revenue stream.

That continued in October with revenue numbers remaining strong. New Jersey saw similar numbers as September and Pennsylvania saw a slight increase.

Due to the COVID-19 spread and rising case numbers, online poker may produce another upsurge again in the coming months.

New Jersey revenue remains in good shape, signs for upward trend

Revenue reports for basically unchanged from the previous month, but a 53.5% increase year over year. 

WSOP.com comes out on top

The monthly revenue battle has tightened in New Jersey among the three online operators. The Garden State’s online operators include:

• Caesars Entertainment) 
• PokerStars (Resorts Casino)
• partypoker US Network (Borgata/MGM) 

All three platforms battle monthly to grab the top spot but WSOP.com continues to hold on. In October, the site reported $951,651 in revenue.

The site dropped under $1 million for the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic began in March. In November, WSOP.com is running the Fall Online Championships, which may help the site get back over the million-dollar mark.

The WSOP also recently announced the annual $10,000 Main Event will return in December. The GGPoker with final tables in Las Vegas and the Czech Republic.

The winners then meet in a separate $1 million winner-take-all showdown. 

The WSOP.com operates a shared player pool with New Jersey, Nevada, and in Delaware with 888poker. NJ players will be eligible to play for the title.

PokerStars revenue grows, partypoker slips slightly

After briefly losing the monthly silver medal, PokerStars reclaimed that spot in October. The site reported $842,307 for the month, an increase from $767,272 in September.

PokerStars was the only site to show a month over month increase. That came after a successful New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOOP). 

The BetMGM skins as well.

On Oct. 21, Borgata was the first live casino to reopen in New Jersey since the pandemic lockdown. The property also recently reopened its brick and mortar poker room. 

Gov. Phil Murphy (D) allowed for the reopening of Atlantic City casinos in July, though poker rooms remained closed. No other casinos have announced public plans to reopen their rooms yet. 

 

Overall NJ online casino revenues are up big. According to the NJDGE, iGaming win increased 103% to $779.1 million when compared to October 2019.

The state also brought in a total of $34.7 million in tax revenue for the month. Gaming taxes represent 8% of taxable casino gross revenue and 15% of Internet gaming gross revenue.

PokerStars PACOOP leads to rise in Pennsylvania revenue

Pennsylvania online poker revenue rebounded in October to $2.4 million. This was up from the $2.3 million in September. 

In October, Pokerstars held the Pennsylvania Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP). The event helped boost the site’s revenue totals. 

Stars continues to be the standalone operator in the state. Partypoker and WSOP.com have been granted approval by The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). However, neither site has launched yet.

Most live poker rooms in PA remain open but new orders have temporarily closed Rivers Casino Philadelphia and its poker room again. Under the state’s new “Safer at Home” restrictions, casinos fall under the category of “business and activities that are not allowed.”

Delaware revenues slip

Online poker in Delaware totaled just over $43,000 in October. Those results have continued to slip slightly month over month since the pandemic boom in March. 

Delaware online poker sites are all operated by the 888poker platform. 888poker software runs shared player pools through three brick and mortar casinos: 

• Delaware Park
• Dover Downs
• Harrington 

Delaware Park ed for half of the poker revenue in October with $20,504 for the month.

Live casinos are open in Delaware but for limited hours. Poker rooms under Gov. John Carney’s (D) order remained closed in October. With COVID-19 surging again in the northeast, there are no plans to reopen at the moment.