NJ Online Poker Sets New High Mark in March

Month after month – for years now – the New Jersey internet gaming market has been telling the same story. The online casino games sector continues to grow (especially year-over-year) and set records, while online poker steadily declines.

The overall online gaming numbers have consistently helped the overall New Jersey gambling revenue numbers, even in months when land-based casinos couldn’t swim into year-on-year growth by themselves.

Sports wagering has been swingy but a positive addition to the gaming market overall.

Enter the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly everything has changed in the past few weeks. So, when the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) released its March 2020 numbers, it provided some wildly interesting results.

The online poker market can celebrate a significant increase in play in March, but that sector better do so quietly, as the New Jersey gambling market is not really up for celebrating much of anything.

March 2020 Online Poker Revenue

Online poker had been craving a boost in the New Jersey market for years. That boost came in the form of stay-at-home orders in the state of New Jersey issued on Saturday, March 21. Casinos in Atlantic City closed, and public gatherings were banned to stop the spread of the virus.

How did poker players respond? They went online.

–March 2020 online poker win:  $3,629,112

–February 2020 online poker win:  $1,796,804

–March 2019 online poker win:  $1,903,790

—Month-on-month:  102% increase

—Year-on-year:  90.6% increase

The monthly revenue from online poker in March set a new record.

New Jersey

March-20
– Online Sports: -17% m/m
– Retail Sports: -110% m/m (neg GGR)
– Online Casino: +25% m/m
– Retail Casino: -61% m/m
– Online Poker: 102% m/m

Q1-20
– Online Sports: -18% q/q
– Online Casino: +20% q/q (EVO 100% live m/s,) pic.twitter.com/oPOcJbOpnn

— dividendblower (@dividendblower) April 15, 2020

March 2020 Online Casino Games Revenue

Online casino games – slots and table games – ticked up in March but not nearly at the rate of online poker. April may tell a different story, but March didn’t provide any shock and awe. Analysts have been used to seeing year-on-year increases of 50-70% each month, though the monthly increase was larger than normal in March.

–March 2020 online casino games win:  $61,192,791

–February 2020 online casino games win:  $50,190,964

–March 2019 online casino games win:  $37,230,590

—Month-on-month:  22% increase

—Year-on-year:  64.4% increase

While some gamblers turn to online casino games in the absence of casinos, poker players are much more likely to do so. Thus, the much larger increase for online poker than for other authorized games.

Total Internet Gaming Win for March 2020

This numbers consistently jumps each month, mostly due to significant and reliable growth of online casino games. This month, the poker segment finally added to that jump in a meaningful way.

–March 2020 total internet gaming win:  $64,821,903

–February 2020 total internet gaming win:  $51,987,768

–March 2019 total internet gaming win:  $39,134,380

—Month-on-month:  24.7% increase

—Year-on-year:  65.6% increase

Look for this number to increase by even higher percentages in April, as players will have been self-quarantined and casinos closed across the entire country for the entire month.

With New Jersey casinos closed since March 16, it was unsurprisingly a record month for NJ online gambling revenue.

– Casino: $61.2 million
– Sports: $13.1 million
– Poker: $3.6 million pic.twitter.com/SLdNPLW4bt

— alice (@alice53444140) April 15, 2020

More Sports Betting Blues in March

Sports wagering took a hit in March, much of which was due to a lack of sports. All major professional sporting leagues in most countries around the world stopped playing in mid-March. That left little on which to place bets.

Even so, the February numbers weren’t great on their own, having decreased more than 68% from January to February.

–March 2020 sports betting win:  $13,181,101

–February 2020 sports betting win:  $17,000,928

–March 2019 sports betting win:  $31,669,387

—Month-on-month:  22.5% decrease

—Year-on-year:  58.4% decrease

Analysts are expecting much worse in April.

New Jersey sports betting handle in March 2019: $372.4 million

NJ sports betting handle in March 2020: $181.9 million

— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkesESPN) April 15, 2020

Land-Based Casino Losses in March 2020

This is where New Jersey took the biggest hit…and will see a worse loss in April. With casinos only being closed for half the month of March, the numbers were still staggering.

–March 2020 casino win:  $85,469,809

–February 2020 casino win:  $218,316,642

–March 2019 casino win:  $223,163,927

–Month-on-month:  60.8% decrease

–Year-on-year:  61.7% decrease

Total New Jersey Gaming Revenue for March 2020

It’s just bad. There is no other way to put it.

–March 2020 total gaming revenue:  $163,472,813

–February 2020 total gaming revenue:  $287,305,338

–March 2019 total gaming revenue:  $293,967,694

–Month-on-month:  43.1% decrease

–Year-on-year:  44.4% decrease

Virus-related closures send casino revenue plummeting in March. New Jersey was down 44%, its biggest monthly drop ever. IN, MD and MI had even larger declines https://t.co/3hAT3tgDHY

— Wayne Parry (@WayneParryAC) April 15, 2020