Online poker is an option in just a handful of states in the US. No matter which state you look at, online poker has struggled to gain a foothold by way of revenues and player traffic. Perhaps the most successful as been New Jersey, but the state still can’t seem to get past the $1 million mark when it comes to monthly earnings. Until this past March. It seems that players are logging on more frequently now to watch online poker, particularly since the casinos in Atlantic City shutdown after the coronavirus outbreak. For March, iPoker in the state earned a whopping $3.6 million.
Huge Upswing
For March, the online poker revenues for New Jersey came in at $3.6 million. This is an increase of 102% when looking at February totals. It is a 90.6% higher than March of 2019. The month was a record setting one for poker revenue and might be an indicator as to what we can expect in months to come if the shutdown continues.
For online poker sites, it was record revenue growth. The pandemic has spiked traffic levels and PokerStars was able to see double the monthly revenue. For the WSOP/888 partnership, an increase of 90% was reached. The partypoker network jumped around 70%.
Totals were helped by major events and should be boosted in the future due to additional online events. Take the WSOP Circuit Online Super Series. It is coming up soon and will give online poker players quality tournament action. Even if the land-based casinos manage to reopen by May, players will have gotten a taste of online poker and should see its appeal, wanting to keep playing anyway.
Is Poker Revived?
Is the shutdown of casinos as well as other non-essential businesses in the state of New Jersey helping to revive the game of poker? There are several factors to consider. First, residents of the state are stuck at home and looking for entertainment. Online poker is a good alternative. Second, you have sports bettors who do not have anything to bet on switching to online poker and casino games.
Thirdly, you have online poker sites that are offering major tournament events with massive million dollar guarantees. These events are truly enticing, and players are logging on in record numbers to compete.
It would not be surprising to find the WSOP along with PokerStars offering even more options by way of tournament events. With more on offer, players will continue to log in and play. Satellites provide an easy way for players to take part, with buy-ins just pennies or dollar amounts.
We will get a true sense of the impact when it comes to the shutdown and how poker is affected once the April totals are released. This would mark the first full month that the state would be without land-based gaming. It will not be surprising to find the state hits yet another milestone, surpassing the March revenue record.
