From an overall standpoint, New Jersey online gaming is on an upward trend. May 2015 numbers revealed this after showing that the state took in $12.5 million in iGaming revenue, compared to $10.5 million in May 2014 – a 19% increase. But despite the good news here, there’s one glaringly obvious problem: New Jersey online poker is struggling!
Garden State iPoker operators took in just $1.92 million, which is over 15% less than the $2.27 million earned in May 2014. So what can be done about this? Let’s discuss the matter below by covering what could happen if New Jersey finally signs an interstate pact.
Delaware and Nevada not looking so small now
Over a year ago, Delaware and Nevada signed a deal to link their online poker player pools and create more liquidity. The end result was the Multi State Poker Network (MSPN), which launched just a couple of months ago and is already paying dividends for both states. This is especially the case in Delaware, where their iPoker numbers are approaching double what they earned in the pre-MSPN days.
Initially, many thought that New Jersey would follow suit and join the MSPN. But even now, there’s been little word on the state’s interest in partnering with Delaware and Nevada. The common thought is that New Jersey doesn’t believe there’s much benefit for them, given their population of 8.94 million people compared to the combined Nevada/Delaware population of just over 3.8 million. But it’s pretty clear right now that the New Jersey iPoker trend is only going downward. So they really have nothing to lose by giving an interstate compact a chance at this point.
No Bigger Online Poker Partners on the Horizon
There are three states that are getting pretty serious about iGaming, with California, Pennsylvania and New York leading the charge. However, it’s pretty clear that these states aren’t ready to approve anything today or even tomorrow. In fact, it should be at least a year before any one of these potential bigger iPoker partners approves the game and gets their operation off the ground.
Even then, there’s no guarantee that all of these states would immediately be willing to share liquidity with New Jersey. This is especially the case with California, which, with its 38.8 million residents, has suggested that they want a very favorable deal in any interstate compact. This being the case, Delaware and New Jersey may not be the most-lucrative online poker partners, however, they exist right now and could at least help get the Garden State’s iPoker operation headed upward
again.