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March A Slump-Buster For PA Casinos With $300 Million In Revenue

March is typically a good month for Pennsylvania’s casinos, but March 2018 was a particularly good month. In fact, March was a record-setting month.

A nearly four-percent increase in total gaming revenue led to the first $300 million month in the 14-year history of casino gaming in the Keystone State.

The gains were entirely on the slot machine side of the ledger. Slot revenue saw its largest year-over-year increase in more than two years. By contrast, table game revenue experienced a slight Y/Y decline.

Top line numbers for March 2018

Here’s a look at the top line March numbers:

  • Slot machine revenue: $221,350,220.10 (+5.41 percent)
  • Table game revenue: $79,165,791 (-.48 percent)
  • Total gaming revenue: $300,516,011 (+3.79 percent)

12-month slot revenue trend

After suffering through a yearlong slump, slot revenue has risen in four of the last seven months.

  • April 2017 slot machine revenue: $205,702,752.11 (-1.58 percent)
  • May 2017 slot machine revenue: $203,248,175.70 (-2.68 percent)
  • June 2017 slot machine revenue: $188,520,750 (-.77 percent)
  • July 2017 slot machine revenue: $209,124,965.58 (-2.01 percent)
  • August 2017 slot machine revenue: $193,190,477.69 (-.39 percent)
  • September 2017 slot machine revenue: $195,396,966.03 (+1.69 percent)
  • October 2017 slot machine revenue: $189,527,493.24 (-1.21 percent)
  • November 2017 slot machine revenue: $181,329,655.27 (+1.08 percent)
  • December 2017 slot machine revenue: $187,614,378.63 (+1.22 percent)
  • January 2018 slot machine revenue: $177,795,127.32 (-1.39 percent)
  • February 2018 slot machine revenue: $189,056,194.76 (-1.67 percent)
  • March 2018 slot machine revenue: $221,350,220.10 (+5.41 percent)

A look at who was up and who was down in March

In a record-setting moth it’s not surprising to see that nine of the state’s 12 casinos posted Y/Y gains, with four casinos achieving double-digit growth (if we round Parx’s 9.9 percent growth up to 10 percent).

On the flip side, three casinos, Sands, Harrah’s, and Mount Airy saw revenue tick down in March.

Market share and revenue comparisons

 

Who won and who lost

Parx dominates in its battle with Sands

A bad month for Sands in an otherwise good month for the industry is a rare occurrence, but that’s precisely what happened in March.

The industry saw revenue rise by 3.8 percent while Sands revenue fell by 3.3 percent.

Sands struggles could stem from:

  • Its eastern location and some severe March weather that hit the Northeast in March (Mount Airy and Harrah’s are also eastern area casinos);
  • Its ownership being in a state of flux after the sale to Wind Creek Hospitality; and/or
  • Normal variance in the casino industry.

Whatever the reason(s), Parx easily defeated Sands in March, as the battle between the two powerhouses continues for the top spot in the Pennsylvania casino industry.

Another good month for Rush Street

Both of Rush Street Gaming’s Pennsylvania casinos, SugarHouse in Philadelphia and Rivers in Pittsburgh, did well for themselves in March.

With a combined $62 million of revenue, Rivers and SugarHouse have the eastern and western part of the state covered for Rush Street.

Valley Forge continues to grow

After falling behind the surging Category 3 casino a couple months ago, Presque Isle managed to surpass Valley Forge in March. However, that was due to a really strong month by Presque Isle and not a poor performance by Valley Forge.

In fact, Valley Forge’s revenue was up by double-digits for the fourth time in the last five months.

  • November 2017: +12.4 percent
  • December 2017: +6.4 percent
  • January 2018: +13.9 percent
  • February 2018: +15 percent
  • March 2018: +10.5 percent

Valley Forge’s hot streak can be traced to the provisions in the gaming reform law passed in October that allowed Valley Forge (and other Category 3 casinos in the state) to eliminate the amenity fee requirement imposed on non-hotel guests for a one-time payment to the state of $1 million.

A historical look at casino revenue in Pennsylvania

The post March A Slump-Buster For PA Casinos With $300 Million In Revenue appeared first on Play Pennsylvania.

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NV-NJ-DE Interstate Online Poker Will Begin On May 1; Here’s What You Need To Know

May 1.

That’s the target date for New Jersey’s entrance into the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association and the start of online poker liquidity sharing between Nevada, Delaware, and the Garden State.

According to a press release issued by WSOP.com and 888poker, WSOP.com and 888 have submitted their new poker software to all three states for testing, and are hopeful that the linking of online poker players will begin on Tuesday, May 1.

The press release goes on to say:

“This shared-liquidity gives way for larger prize pools, better game selection, wider time zone coverage and expanded tournament offerings.”

“This has been a huge collaborative effort from all involved and it is important to thank the elected leadership and regulatory authorities in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey for their dedication and diligence to help move online poker forward,” said WSOP.com Head of Online Poker Bill Rini.  “Everyone has had the end user in mind throughout this process, and as a result, we believe the United States for the first time in a regulated environment, will have a large-scale multi-state offering that will propel the industry forward as soon as next month.”

“The DGE has been happy to be part of this process, and to see it implemented so expeditiously after the signing of the agreement is a testament to all of the parties involved,” said Robert Moncrief Jr., Deputy Chief of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Technical Services Bureau.  “We are pleased to see this long-sought multi-state poker agreement come to fruition. This will raise jackpots and provide even greater opportunities for play. It also paves the way for additional states to join and grow the regulated, legal online poker market.”

Not surprisingly, poker players in all three states have been posing a lot of questions about the matter.

You’ve got questions; we’ve got answers

New accounts will be required in NV and DE

In order to pool players, two platforms (New Jersey and Delaware-Nevada) will need to be combined into one, and it appears 888 has decided to keep its New Jersey platform and migrate players from the Nevada-Delaware platform.

As such, Delaware and Nevada players will need to make new accounts once liquidity sharing begins.

“This transition will require Delaware and Nevada consumers to download the new poker client and create a new account to be able to participate,” the press release states. “This also means the existing Delaware and Nevada poker software will cease to operate after this process takes effect.  New Jersey players with an existing account will be able to play without delay.”

NJ players will have to say goodbye to HUDs

The use of HUDs (heads-up displays that supply poker players with statistical information about themselves and their opponents) have been an often asked question by players since the rules regarding HUD use vary by state.

Specifically, HUDs are unaddressed in New Jersey but expressly prohibited in Nevada. In order to bring all three states into compliance, HUDs will be prohibited across the new network.

According to the WSOP.com website:

Unfortunately, HUDs (Heads-Up Displays) were an issue where there were no good solutions that would satisfy everyone. Nevada expressly prohibits them, and New Jersey has no specific policy. Continuing to prevent HUDs in Nevada and allowing them in New Jersey was deemed unfair to Nevada players, so the only option that would give a level playing field to all players was to prohibit them in both Nevada and New Jersey. Players can always review their hands in the client and request specific hand histories from Customer Support.

WSOP online bracelets available to some but not all players

WSOP online bracelet events will be exclusively available to New Jersey players on the WSOP.com website.

To clarify, players using the 888-branded online poker site in New Jersey, or playing on one of the 888-powered online poker sites in Delaware will not be able to participate in WSOP.com online bracelet events or satellites to WSOP events. Only players registered at WSOP.com branded sites will be able to participate in those events.

“Once the process is complete, New Jersey WSOP.com players will be able to compete for official WSOP gold bracelets from their home state for the very first time.  The first opportunity to do so should be the Sunday, June 3 $365 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em official gold bracelet event (Event #10) being held in Las Vegas as part of the 49th WSOP.”

There are four online bracelet events on the 2018 WSOP schedule:

  • June 3, Event No. 10: $365 No-limit Hold’em
  • June 22, Event No. 47: $565 Pot-limit Omaha 6-Handed
  • June 29, Event No. 61: $1,000 No-limit Hold’em
  • June 30, Event No. 63: $3,200 High Roller

What else you should and shouldn’t expect

Once WSOP.com-888 begin pooling players across the three states it will leap to the head of the online poker pack by a considerable margin.

At WSOP.com-888 players will find:

  • More games
  • The addition of new formats, like BLAST Poker (888’s version of ZOOM Poker)
  • Bigger tournament guarantees (in-depth analysis can be found here)

You can also expect to see the other significant operators in New Jersey — PokerStars and partypoker — take a hit, with some of their players jumping ship to the larger WSOP.com-888 network.

That said, this won’t be a panacea. Don’t expect to see pre-Black Friday poker numbers.

Instead, expect to see traffic more than doubling, with extended peak traffic hours.

The post NV-NJ-DE Interstate Online Poker Will Begin On May 1; Here’s What You Need To Know appeared first on .

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Poker Industry PRO: PokerStars.IN Goes Live: Everything You Need to Know

PokerStars’ India launch includes a lottery sit and go with a 1.5 crore prize pool, the largest seen in the market.

PokerStars.IN, The Star Group’s long-awaited localized entry into the Indian market, went live today. It followed an unannounced soft launch on Monday evening when it went came online at 19:30 PM IST. The official launch date was 10 AM on Tuesday.

At the time of writing, over 60 players are participating in real money cash games, dozens of Spin & Gos are underway and almost 1000 players are registered for the welcome freeroll.

Read the full article on pokerfuse →

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Poker Industry PRO: iPoker Festival Makes Its Spring Return

€400,000 will be guaranteed across 40 events for the Spring outing.

The iPoker Festival returns on all skins this month with €400,000 guaranteed over 40 events.

Now in its second year under the simplified Festival brand, the schedule stays very much the same as the spring and autumn editions seen last year: The series includes the same total guarantee and number of events, and as in the past two outings, a €100,000 main event will cap off proceedings.

Read the full article on pokerfuse →

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US Shared Liquidity Slated to Go Live in New Jersey on May 1

WSOP.com and 888poker look to expand their online poker network beyond Delaware and Nevada to New Jersey next month.

WSOP.com and 888poker are bringing their shared online poker network to the New Jersey market. Slated to go live on May 1, the single player pool will include players in New Jersey as well as those in Nevada and Delaware which have been sharing online poker tables since March 2015.

However, Caesars Interactive Entertainment says that it is still awaiting final regulatory approval before all systems can be set live.

Read the full article on pokerfuse →

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New Jersey Online Casinos Set New Record With $25 Million March

New Jersey’s online gambling industry closed March with record gross revenue of $25.6 million, its most successful month ever.

The prior monthly record was $3.6 million less, according to a release from PlayNJ.com. Lead analyst from the site, Steve Ruddock, said this:

The revenue records grab headlines, but the story doesn’t end there. Online gaming is increasingly important to the bottom line of every casino operator in New Jersey.

This continues the streak that began three months ago when the industry surpassed its benchmarks. Golden Nugget passed $8 million in a month. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa raked in over $200 million, just past the lifetime revenue threshold.

Play At Golden Nugget Now With Free Signup Bonus

Q4 2017 showed the onset of online gaming

If anything, online gaming began the increase in gross operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2017 with a jump of 23.7 percent.

Resort Casino exemplifies this trend with an online gross operating profit of $14 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. Comparatively, this made up 38 percent of its overall profit.

2018 continued the trend

The New Jersey online gaming market is still growing. 2018 continued the trend of increasing profit in the first three months of the year. With the highest revenue totals since New Jersey legalized and regulated online gaming in 2013, New Jersey maintains $69.5 million in total revenue this year.

Already, that’s an increase from first quarter of last year. That puts New Jersey at an increase of 17.3 percent from $59.3 million at this time last year.

The state reported the gross revenue numbers in an internet gross revenue report released Thursday. The $25.6 million represents a 16.3 percent increase from the previous record set in February of $21.99 million.

Online casinos in the black

Individually, online casinos banked, hitting thresholds this month.

“Bryce Harper isn’t the only batter who’s started the season on fire; New Jersey’s online casinos are 3-for-3 with three homers in 2018,” Ruddock said. “Online casinos were able to produce another incredible month of revenue as the market for these games continues to grow. Few obvious signs of a slowdown exist.”

Casinos playing it big this month with their respective online casino brands:

Borgata generated $4.6 million in online revenue in March and now sits at $201.8 million in total gaming win. This makes the casino the first to pass $200 million in total gaming win.

Comparatively, Golden Nugget raked in $8.7 million in March, up 9.8 percent from $7.9 million in February. Golden Nugget is the first license holder to do so, while also trailing the $200 million total gaming win with $183.4 million in lifetime revenue. Ruddock called Golden Nugget the bellwether for New Jersey.

New Jersey readies for a big year

March’s increases put New Jersey in line for $278.1 million in revenue by year’s end. Since the industry’s birth in 2013, total revenue tapered out at $722.4 million. With this projection, New Jersey will hit $1 billion by closeout of 2018.

Per day in March, the industry generated $825,168 (across 31 days). This was up from $785,433 in February.

New Jersey online casinos have contributed a total of $138.6 million in tax revenue for the state since 2013. In March, the casinos paid $4.5 million in taxes.

Casino games are largely to thank for the increases. Online casino games brought $23.6 million in revenue in March, while online poker inched up to $1.97 million. In February, online casino games sat at $20.3 million (now up 16.8 percent from that) and $1.8 million for online poker.

All this stands as good news for the Garden State and other states still considering online casinos as an option to increase revenue.

The post New Jersey Online Casinos Set New Record With $25 Million March appeared first on Play USA.