Online poker in New Jersey has been up and running since Nov. 26 and a once-popular name in the U.S. has come out on top with regard to market share.
PartyPoker, who led the worldwide industry for a number of years until passage of the UIGEA in 2006 forced its exit, has almost 50% of the online poker market in New Jersey. Those are the latest numbers as provided by independent tracking site PokerScout after about one week of regulated online gambling in New Jersey.
PartyPoker has teamed up with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa to provide New Jersey residents and visitors with an online poker product. The Borgata is Atlantic City’s most successful land-based casino and early indications are that that success has been equalled with regard to Internet poker.
Americans are still quite familiar with the PartyPoker brand and many may fondly remember the good old days pre-UIGEA when the Party Gaming online poker offering ruled the roost in the entire industry. Of course, PokerStars did not exit the U.S. when the Bush administration tacked the UIGEA onto another bill completely unrelated to gambling and has been able to dominate the global industry as a result.
But PokerStars is paying for that now as the site is [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/pokerstars-left-njs-igaming-launch/”]not among the players[/geolink] in New Jersey’s newly-regulated market. Thier license application as part of a partnership with the Resorts Casino & Hotel is still under review by state gaming officials. The timetable on a license decision has not been released, but industry rumors indicate it does not look good for PokerStars.
WSOP is right behind PartyPoker in the Garden State with about 3/4 the number of players as that of its competitor. The strong brand name of the Caesars’ product that has been hosting the world’s premier live poker tournaments for 44 years will undoubtedly continue its aim to be the top dog in New Jersey.
WSOP.com leads the online poker market in Nevada, jumping ahead of Ultimate Poker in less than 50 days after launching despite UP enjoying almost a five-month head start. Those two poker sites remain the only two in operation in Nevada’s slow-moving online poker scheme.
Ultimate Poker’s Internet poker offering is not faring so well in New Jersey, mired near the bottom of the rankings along with 888’s All-American Poker Network. The battle in the Garden State for dominance in online poker market share appears to be between PartyPoker and WSOP. The other sites, including Betfair, may need to increase marketing and promotional efforts if they hope to attract more players.
