Ever since Trump Plaza announced that they were closing on September 16th, there’s been plenty of speculation on what will happen to the Betfair Casino site – betfaircasino.com. Seeing as how iGaming operators need a land-based casino partner in the state, some wondered if Betfair might even be forced to stop operating in New Jersey. Luckily that won’t be the case, though, as Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) Director David Rebuck explained with the following statement:
The division will consider input from all involved parties to ensure a smooth transition as Trump Plaza winds down its operations and as Betfair continues its iGaming operations in the state. They want to remain fully functional and stay in New Jersey, and we will work with them to do that.
The DGE will give Betfair some time to find a new ally in the online gaming market. Unfortunately, one of their best options, Trump Taj Mahal, also plans to close on November 13th. This would have been a perfect partner since Betfair’s servers are already located at the Taj Mahal. They are now in the process of ending their iGaming contract with Trump Entertainment Resorts.
Who can Betfair partner with?
It would have been a lot easier finding an ally at the beginning of the year, when 12 casinos were operational in Atlantic City. However, when Trump Taj Mahal closes on Nov. 13th, just seven casinos will be left in the city.
Remaining casinos include Bally’s, Borgata, Caesars, Golden Nugget, Harrah’s, Resorts and Tropicana. Of course, some of these companies won’t be interested in finding another partner because they’ve already established a good iGaming operation. There are talks of casino gaming eventually being offered in northern New Jersey. But for now, Betfair will need to work out a partnership with one of the seven existing casinos.
Betfair Performance in New Jersey
So far, Betfair has seen minimal return from the millions that they’ve dumped into the New Jersey online gaming market. However, this isn’t to say that they’re a total non-player. According to a July report, Betfair has made $4,343,876 from iGaming in 2014. This puts them fourth out of six operators – ahead of both Golden Nugget and Trump Taj Mahal/Ultimate Gaming.
The one huge downside for Betfair so far has been the terrible performance of their online poker room. They’ve made just $49 in rake thus far, which is easily the worst out of the four New Jersey online poker operators. So this could be a major drawback as Betfair searches for a new partner.