New Jersey Online Poker Hits a Zenith in March, Thanks to PokerStars’ Entry

April 15th, 2016 | by Jason Reynolds

New Jersey online poker revenue is on the up, and much of the recent flurry of activity can be attributed to PokerStars, according to the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE).

New Jersey online gaming revenue up March

New Jersey’s iGaming’s fortunes are looking grander, thanks to a strong starting performance from PokerStars in March. (Image: xgames.espn.go.com)

The latest round-up of stats from the New Jersey DGE was published this week and, thanks to the launch of PokerStars New Jersey on March 21, revenue was up across the board.

Crunching the numbers and comparing like for like on a year-on-year basis, the DGE found that March 2016’s $15.5 million in iGaming revenue was 17.8 percent higher than the $13.2 million collected in March 2015.

Stats Up Across the Board

As well as reporting an annual increase in revenue, the DGE found that month-on-month takings were up by 5.4 percent, and poker revenue alone had increased from $2.2 million in March 2015 to $2.5 million in March 2016.

On a broader scale, New Jersey’s iGaming economy has also seen a 27.7 percent increase in revenue in Q1 of 2016, compared to the same period in the previous year. Despite only being live for ten days, PokerStars New Jersey appears to have had a significant impact on the state’s overall fortunes, and not just because it generated $597,677 in poker revenue.

According to the latest stats on PokerScout.com, PokerStars New Jersey is already the largest player in the market with a 24-hour peak of 381 cash game players. That figure puts it ahead of the WSOP/888poker coalition’s 328, and more than 150 players more than the peak traffic flow at partypoker/Borgata Poker, with 222.

PokerStars’ Positive Presence

While it comes as no surprise that PokerStars has already become the most popular site in the Garden State, the question is whether or not the buzz it’s generated can filter through to New Jersey’s other operators.

Comparing partypoker NJ/Borgata Poker’s February stats to the numbers posted in March, there is a slight decline in revenue from $1,061,706 down to $1,033,380. Similarly, the Caesars Interactive owned WSOP/888poker platform saw a 10.9 percent decrease in poker revenue between February and March.

Of course, it’s far too early to tell whether or not PokerStars’ entry into the market will have a negative impact on the state’s other online poker sites, but the current evidence appears to suggest that it might not be as positive as some may have hoped. It could also imply that a limited player pool exists that PokerStars New Jersey’s presence has not expanded, but with which it has merely absconded.

Away from New Jersey’s online poker and casino activity, revenue among the state’s live casinos was down by just over $3 million between February ($190.7 million) and March (187.5 million).

After adding that figure to the $15.5 million in online earnings, New Jersey’s total gaming win for March 2016 was $203 million which, although positive, represents a 0.4 percent drop compared to the $203.9 million earned in the same month last year.