The New Jersey online casino industry is kind of like the Duracel bunny. Except instead of keeping on going, it is keeping on growing. Last month, the industry had its second-best month to date.

The NJ online gambling sites took in almost $21.3 million last month. This is a more than 32 percent jump from August 2016 revenues.

Online poker static, while online casinos in NJ are unstoppable

For the sixth-consecutive month, NJ online casinos took in more than $20 million.

By comparison, last August online gambling sites collectively brought in $16 million. Since launching in late 2013, the NJ iGaming industry still has not had a single month where revenue has not grown.

Steve Ruddock, lead anaylst for PlayNJ, put the industry’s growth in perspective:

“Online gaming has grown into an industry on pace to generate close to a quarter of a billion dollars in 2017. That represents a 20 percent year-over-year increase, and an increase of more than 90 percent compared with what the industry generated back in its first full year in 2014.”

Unfortunately, while the casino side continues to boom, online poker remains stuck in neutral. Poker’s portion of the revenue came in at just over $2 million. This represents a four percent decline from last year.

It seems like $2 million is the ceiling for online poker. Unless state Sen. Ray Lesniak’s proposed bill to revise the online casino server requirement passes, that is unlikely to change.

Without compacts with other online poker markets, the state simply lacks the player liquidity to grow.

Golden Nugget still out front, but other sites narrowing the gap

Even though Golden Nugget does not have an online poker site, it remains the market leader in New Jersey. No other online casino brand managed to generate over $4 million in revenue without the help of poker. Meanwhile, Golden Nugget took in $5.1 million in August.

There is a bright side for the competition though. Last month Golden Nugget’s market share amounted to 30 percent. This month, it was down to 24.4 percent.

The parity across brands is coming closer to even. PlayNJ broke down how much each brand took in this month:

• Golden Nugget – 24.4%
• Caesars – 20.9%
• Borgata – 20.2%
• Tropicana – 18.0%
• Resorts – 16.6%

It is important to note the role jackpots probably played in the dip in Golden Nugget’s revenue. On the Divine Fortune slot game alone, there were two separate six-figure jackpots last month.

Nonetheless, as this industry continues to grow, it appears no one is really getting left in the dust. As the water rises off the Jersey Shore, all these boats are rising with it for now.

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