New Jersey Online Poker Ends 2024 with Over $2M in December

The online gambling industry has many different market segments. In New Jersey, poker is one of the most popular, bringing in large amounts of revenue for its operators. The article below discusses its startling end to 2024.

New Jersey had a monolithic 2024 regarding returns from live, physical casinos. In December alone, its casinos reported $231.8 million in revenue. The total for the year came to a startling $2.82 billion, which is even more impressive when you consider those figures were down slightly from the previous year.  

New Jersey’s Record December

Online gaming generated $228 million in revenue during December, an increase of 26.5% from the previous year. The year’s total revenue for online gaming was $2.39 billion, up 24.1% in 12 months.

While many will say this shows the demise of land-based casinos in favor of online ones, one huge factor may have contributed to this. In 2024, New Jersey experienced some horrific weather conditions, which kept many people inside playing on their devices. This could also have contributed to a lack of footfall from tourism, which the physical casinos need.  

Poker is always popular in New Jersey, and it has remained so despite the prevailing weather conditions. Its profit rose from 7.2% in 2023 to reach $2.43 million in revenue for the year’s final month. However, it also produced a healthy $28.5 million in revenue for 2024 overall.  

New Forms of Online Poker Gaming 

One definite view of the major operators is that New Jersey is a market ripe for innovation and testing new products. DraftKings espoused this, which will introduce a new P2P poker service called Electric Poker. A well-known state brand is often in the top ten in terms of the latest New Jersey casino deals. This game has already been rolled out in Michigan, where games can be shared with Nevada and New Jersey. Bringing the game to NJ is a natural extension of this.  

Peer-to-peer software is a decentralized architecture in which users share resources directly without the role of a central figure. In this case, the P2P gaming is housed within the DraftKings app. This means it is not a standalone poker service housed separately from its larger casino operator. Instead, it aims to provide a better and wider poker experience in its existing framework.  

The game itself offers three-handed poker tournaments. Sit-and-go in nature, they also have a range of prize pools. In some cases, these can be around 10,000 times the player’s buy-in.  

A Potential Merger with Pennsylvania? 

Another topic of discussion among poker players in New Jersey is the possibility of a merger with Pennsylvania. Many voices in online forums believe the state’s online poker scene could become turgid. With the same players inhabiting the same rooms, the only option is to bring in a fresh crop of new players, which takes time. However, a second option is available, which involves merging New Jersey and Pennsylvania online poker to create a bigger pool of players. 

Both states are two of only seven in the US where online casino games are permitted. This would require Pennsylvania to sign up for the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, which was briefly touched upon in October last year. This is an interstate poker agreement that the governors of participating states must sign. It facilitates linking poker sites across state lines, effectively creating one more extensive group of players. 

This will undo some of the damage caused by the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which reduced the liquidity in US poker and isolated it state-by-state. New Jersey, which signed in 2013, is already a participant in this.  

Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania have a range of the world’s best poker operators, including Pokerstars and WSOP. While New Jersey is in agreement with Delaware and Nevada, both have small bases of players. Its tournaments have prize pools of around $250,000 and an average of 500 players. In contrast, Pennsylvania has held events where the prize fund has reached $2.5 million with over 1,000 players. If Pennsylvania did decide to sign up, the New Jersey poker scene could double in size.  

Further Poker Investment 

The proof of how successful this project can be lies in the revenue of the BetMGM Poker Network in New Jersey. Last month, they reported their most significant revenue in ten years. This is partially due to the partnership formed in a similar venture to Michigan. This nearly doubled the network revenue, causing it to rise to $781k monthly. Further operations saw this reach $1.25 million in January.  

The last figures like this were seen in April 2020, when many people switched to online forms of entertainment. Prior to this, its network opened for the first time in 2015. This shows that pooled resources work for poker, something operators in Pennsylvania must be advocating for.  

Overall Gambling Revenue for January 

Few states have the history with gambling that New Jersey does, perhaps taking Nevada out of the equation. It has long had physical casinos and used them to attract tourists and footfall. What is extremely surprising is that the data on poker and casinos shows that instead of stagnating, New Jersey is undergoing a considerable level of growth.  

At the head of the table, online slots are still king. With their low wagering and high payout incentives, they brought in $218.9 million. January also saw a turnaround for land-based casinos, which had suffered the year before.

Poker is alive and well in New Jersey and is one facet of a wider, healthy gambling industry. However, its growth seems determined not by what happens within its borders but elsewhere. With more players becoming available, revenues can increase further, contributing to a healthy poker ecosphere.