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Take An Up-Close Look At Golden Nugget’s New Live Dealer Roulette Game

Golden Nugget is taking online live dealer games to the next level by launching the first-ever Roulette game live from its casino floor last week.

The first Online Live Dealer Casino Floor Roulette game went live on March 21 from the Golden Nugget Atlantic City casino floor.

Golden Nugget has been running online live dealer games for the past two years. However, all previous games were played inside a studio at Golden Nugget Atlantic City.

The game features a live video feed of a traditional American Roulette game from the casino floor.

Gamblers can bet on the game on the casino floor in Atlantic City, from a computer or smartphone anywhere in New Jersey, or both.

Other online live dealer casino games available on Golden Nugget run from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily. However, Online Live Dealer Casino Floor Roulette is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Golden Nugget online player experience

Golden Nugget Senior VP and Online Gaming GM Thomas Winter said the organization puts online player experiences first:

“By bringing the casino floor to online patrons, GoldenNuggetCaino.com keeps innovating and further demonstrates that it is the online destination of choice for authentic casino players.”

Kfir Kugler, CEO at Ezugi New Jersey, the company that provides the tech for live dealer games on Golden Nugget, agreed innovation is key:

“Innovation drives our product ethos and Live Dealer Casino Floor Roulette was a natural next step for us to collaborate on with GoldenNuggetCasino.com and Golden Nugget Atlantic City. This product shows the current power of live streaming technology and demonstrates Ezugi’s ability to work with its partners on delivering complex products.”

Live on Twitch

PlayUSA Twitch Stream host Vinny Goombatz gave the new game a shot live on the stream last week. Here is a look at what it looks like in-action from a New Jersey computer:

Watch Hangin with the Goombatz during the snowstorm! Come play some games and win prizes! from PlayUSA on www.twitch.tv

Live dealer games on Golden Nugget

With the addition of the new game, there are now three Golden Nugget online live dealer Roulette games. The other two games include American Roulette and Multiview Roulette.

Other online live dealer games offered on Golden Nugget include:

  • Blackjack
  • Dragon Bonus Baccarat
  • Online Live Dealer Casino Hold’em

Casino Hold’em is a an electronic version of a Texas Hold’em-based table game. It was added to the Golden Nugget live dealer game portfolio in December 2017.

Online live dealer games are a hybrid of the online and live casino experience. They allow gamblers to play live table games from the privacy of their own homes. Plus, the games can be played anywhere in New Jersey using a computer or smartphone.

The games play out live from a studio inside Golden Nugget Atlantic City, with the exception of this new Online Live Dealer Casino Floor Roulette game. The digital gaming platform features a live video stream of the games with an electronic wagering interface. The interface allows players to make real-money bets and interact with live dealers in real time.

If there is one drawback of the new game, it’s that online players cannot interact with the dealer.

Golden Nugget has grown into New Jersey’s top-grossing online casino operator since it launched in November 2013. The site has more than 470 games available, including live dealer games.

In January 2017, Golden Nugget pulled in more than $7 million in online gambling revenue for the first time. This set a record for an online casino in the state.

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Looks Like del Lago Could End Up Being New York’s Revel

After a year of claiming there was nothing to be concerned about, del Lago Casino is officially concerned.

The casino brought in roughly 44 percent of what it projected for first-year earnings. The good news was so hard to come by, the casino resorted to taking credit for traffic jams. Yet, in all that time, the casino and its lawmaker supporters insisted things were fine.

On Tuesday, the casino decided it was time to ask for help from the state before things get even worse.

Casino owner reached out to state

According to the Chronicle and Democrat, del Lago owner Tom Wilmot was not forthright with exactly what he wanted from state lawmakers. It could be a more favorable tax rate. What Wilmot did tell the publication is that the casino’s future is in jeopardy.

“I think we need some help at this point, and what the future holds, time will tell.”

Wilmot clarified things are not so dire that del Lago cannot pay their bills. However, looking ahead, it is clear the current state of the property is not sustainable.

This is not news to most people. Credit agency Moody’s reported the casino’s problems in January. After looking into del Lago’s finances, Moody’s downgraded its rating of the property to “negative.”

Here is what Moody’s had to say at the beginning of the year:

“Despite the fact that del Lago Resort Casino opened on time and on budget and has substantially grown total gaming revenues generated in its primary market area, the property’s revenue ramp-up is well below Moody’s expectations…Given del Lago’s current performance, Moody’s is of the view that without a substantial improvement in revenue, del Lago will not be able to achieve a level of performance that can support its existing debt capital structure.”

The revenue struggle is not limited to del Lago. Both Rivers Schenectady and Tioga Downs fell short of expectations. The new Resorts World Catskills Casino is arguably faring even worse. So far del Lago is the only one asking for help from the state though.

After pushing casino bill, Pretlow blames casino for its problem

Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow was one of the key politicians who pushed through the New York commercial casino bill. However, he is not taking much of the blame when it comes to Wilmot and his property’s problems.

“I think it was a bad business decision to move there in the first place, but they knew what they were doing when they got into. They made their bed, basically,” said Pretlow.

What Pretlow fails to mention is that most people cite issues besides the casino’s location. Namely, the oversaturation of New York casinos. With so many properties, cannibalization is something those in the industry repeatedly bring up.

The deflection of blame is not surprising from Pretlow. Back in November, he wrote a letter to the state Comptroller, expressing concern at how wildly off revenue projections were for the new properties:

“It is critically important that we have reliable and realistic long-term revenue projections — so we can prevent the recent gaming expansion from creating an arms race for more and more tax subsidies.”

“When our state passed legislation to expand gaming, our decision was based on projections of robust revenues and promises that casino development would not place new burdens on taxpayers. The last few months, however, have called into question those projections and promises.”

It looks like Pretlow’s fear is coming to fruition. The question now is what the state is or is not willing to do about it.

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Five New Jersey Online Casino Games To Play In 2018 If You Haven’t Before

Online casino games can be a lot of fun to play, and if you get lucky, you might even win some money playing them.

A lot of the games are simply computerized versions of the same games you find in brick-and-mortar casinos across the country. So, if you’ve ever been to a casino, you know exactly what we’re talking about here.

There are literally hundreds of different online slots available at NJ online casinos. Plus, there’s video poker and dozens of different table games, too.

In fact, there’s really something for everyone. Look around a little and it’s a good bet you’ll find your favorite casino game online. Plus, dive a little deeper and you’re bound to find something you’ve never tried before but always wanted to.

Here’s a list of five online casino games you should definitely play in 2018 if you haven’t had the chance to before:

Single-Deck Blackjack

If you’re looking for the best bet on an NJ online casino site, look no further than Single-Deck Blackjack.

Single-Deck Blackjack is a classic blackjack game available online at a number of regulated New Jersey online casinos, including Virgin and Tropicana.

The rules are as follows:

  • Blackjack pays out 3:2
  • Insurance pays 2:1
  • Dealer stands on soft 17
  • Double down bets only available on 9, 10, 11
  • Split available only on matching pairs
  • Split only once
  • No double down bets on splits
  • Can hit split Aces
  • No surrender allowed

The name of the game tells the story here as Single-Deck Blackjack is played with only one deck of cards that is shuffled after each hand.

However, that helps the game offer the best return-to-player rate (99.87 percent) of any online casino game in New Jersey.

The rules include some relatively tight restrictions on splitting and doubling down, but the lack of a multi-deck shoe makes up for it. Plus, the ability to hit split Aces makes the game even more advantageous for players.

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Live Dealer Blackjack

Sticking with blackjack for the moment, if you haven’t tried a live dealer game online in New Jersey, you must, and the most popular casino game in the world is a great place to start.

Live dealer games came online in New Jersey in August 2016. Now they are available on Golden Nugget and Betfair.

The games are played out live from a studio inside the Golden Nugget Atlantic City casino, and you can watch them, and make wagers online from 3 p.m to 3 a.m. local time every day.

Live dealer games bring together the convenience of online gambling online with the social interactivity of a live casino setting. The dealers are real, as are the cards and other gaming equipment used to determine the outcome of the games. Only the betting is done online with an electronic interface.

The big difference between Live Dealer Blackjack and other online blackjack games is that the Live Dealer game is dealt from a traditional eight-deck shoe.

Here’s what the rules of the game look like:

  • Natural blackjack pay 3:2
  • Dealer hits on soft 17
  • Double down on any two cards
  • Double down after split available
  • No re-splits
  • Can’t hit split aces
  • No late surrender

The house edge is just 0.72 percent under these rules, and although this is on the high side for blackjack, you do get the chance to try this live and online casino hybrid game.

If you’re feeling lucky, the game also offers a couple of side bets: Perfect Pairs and 21+3.

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Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker

Poker has gotten so popular they turned it into a casino game. Now, Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker casino game is available on the Borgata Casino and PartyCasino websites in New Jersey. It’s worth trying for everyone from expert poker players to those who have never seen a flop, turn or river before, except on TV.

The premise of the game is simple. You just need to make a better five card hand than the dealer.

The house edge on the game is a relatively favorable 2.04 percent. But taking advantage of those odds requires avoiding the side bet. The bonus payouts are attractive on the side bet, but overall the bet returns just 89 percent, making it one of the worst bets a player can make at any online casino.

Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker is meant to appeal to fans of traditional poker, but it’s simplified rules and ease of play make it an NJ online casino game worth trying for just about anybody.

Craps

Craps is the loudest and most social game inside most casinos. Although developers haven’t yet found a way to bring all that fun online, the game is available at NJ online casinos and worth trying. Particularly for novice players and first timers, who will find online craps a great place to learn the game since it’s played at their own pace.

Not every NJ online casino has craps, and not every craps game at online casinos in NJ is the same. Expert players tend to judge a craps game based on the odds bets available. The bigger the better. Especially since this is a house edge free bet that sits among the best you’ll find in a casino game, online or off.

By those standards, the best online craps game can be found at Virgin.

Favorable rules include:

  • 5x max odds on 6 & 8 Pass/Come bets,
  • 4x max odds on 5 & 9
  • 3x max odds on 4 & 10
  • 6x max odds on all Don’t Pass/Don’t Come bets
  • Triple payouts on Field bets when a 12 is rolled
  • 16-to-1 payouts on 3’s and 11’s
  • 33-to-1 on 2’s and 12’s

Other online craps games might only offer 2x or 3x odds.

So, if you’re going to try craps online, try it at Virgin NJ and get the most bang for your buck.

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Deuces Wild

You can play video poker at any online casino in New Jersey and it’s worth trying. However, the Deuces Wild Three- and Five-Play Game King machine versions on Tropicana and Virgin offer the best return to player rates of them all.

The payouts are smaller but more frequent, and although you’ll need three-of-a-kind just to get your money back, the wild cards help you get it so often it pays off in the end.

Of course, the better the hand, the better the payout and Deuces Wild on Tropicana and Virgin pays four coins on Four of a Kind, 10 on Straight Flushes, and 16 on Five of Kinds.

It all adds up to a 99.73 percent RTP rate and you simply won’t find a better one on an NJ online casino video poker game.

The post Five New Jersey Online Casino Games To Play In 2018 If You Haven’t Before appeared first on NJ Online Casino.

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PGCB’s Calendar Filling Up, But Major Regulatory Questions Are Still TBD

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) calendar is filling up, but the answers to some major regulatory questions are still up in the air.

PGCB announced Tuesday that the organization will start accepting applications for interactive gaming platforms on June 4. What are those, you may ask? Well, these are not the Pennsylvania online casinos themselves. Rather, these are the groups that provide software platforms for these casinos. Some examples are:

  • NYX/Scientific Games
  • 888 Casino
  • Rush Street Interactive
  • GAN

Some casinos already have online software provider partnerships. However, unless that partner completes the application and gets approved, that partnership cannot move forward. In the meantime, the online casinos themselves can send in their gaming applications beginning on April 16, well before any decisions about the suitability of their online partners.

What does the provider application entail?

Applications are available on the PGCB website. The application for software providers is extensive. The 59-page document covers a wide range of information, including major principals in the company. Once the applications are complete, there is still more to the process too.

The next steps are, per the PGCB:

  1. Once an application is submitted, the applicant will receive instructions on how to be fingerprinted.
  2. After the PGCB receives the fingerprint results and all other deficiencies in the application are cured, the application will be deemed complete.
  3. The completed application for each individual and entity will undergo a background investigation.

If you cannot tell, the process is a long and complicated one. This is why a June 4 deadline might be more telling than it initially seems. Originally, the hope was the first PA online casinos would launch in November of this year. If applications for providers are not coming in until the summer, the window from approval to launch keeps shrinking.

Certainly, it seems likely that PGCB can let Pennsylvania casinos know how an application is proceeding. However, official approval is yet another element that will be up in the air longer than initially expected.

Skins will influence who applies as providers

Another element that is still up in the air is how many skins can operate on each license. If PGCB chooses to limit skins, that is something providers will certainly want to know before forking over the $1 million licensing fee.

With that in mind, it certainly seems like a ruling on skins is coming up before June 4, at the very latest. The next PGCB meeting is April 4, which is the earliest there might be a decision on skins.

Recently, two of the lawmakers behind the gambling expansion bill,  Reps. Rosita Youngblood and Jason Ortitay, went on record that the intent was never to limit skins. Rather, they modeled the laws after New Jersey, where each online license has up to five skins on it.

These new deadlines are heartening in that it means the sites are making progress towards launching. However, without key decisions on matters like skins, these deadlines are also fraught with unanswered questions.

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NJ Online Gaming Scoop: Cash Game And Tournament Traffic For March 26

In the world of New Jersey online poker, any week that posts positive gains in both cash game and tournament traffic is a good week. It was a good week.

Both cash games and tournament saw increases in traffic when compared to last week — 22.6 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.

Peak traffic was also on the rise posting an average 4.2 percent increase. While reading, note the peak traffic number of 843 for Tuesday, March 21. It’s one of the highest peak numbers we have seen in some time.

New Jersey cash game and tournament traffic highlights

  • The big winner  for the week ending March 25 was Borgata and the partypoker platform. partypoker parlayed the GSSS Spring ’18 tournament series to a four percent increase in cash game traffic and a 24 percent increase in tournament entrants compared to last week. They were the only operator to post positive gains in both cash games and tournaments.
  • On the flip side, PokerStars posted a moderate decline in both cash game (-3.4 percent) and tournament (-1 percent) traffic compared to last week. They once again found themselves in overlay territory for the Sunday Special, after last week’s reprieve.
  • WSOP/888 landed somewhere in the middle. The network posted a strong 15 percent increase in cash game traffic and modest 3.4 decrease in tournament traffic. It also paid out the largest Sunday Major overlay ($1,200) of the week, which is disappointing after a few solid weeks in the tournament area.
  • Pala Poker continues to fight for every player. Tournament data wasn’t available but it’s unlikely that it hit its guarantee and their cash game traffic suffered a bit. With the established platforms hosting big tournament series and satellites to major events, they continue to struggle for them to gain some ground.

With that said, let’s take a detailed look back at the cash game and tournament trends in the New Jersey online poker market for the week ending March 25, 2018.

New Jersey’s online poker operators

New Jersey has seven online poker sites operating on four separate networks.

During the week of March 19 – March 25, New Jersey online poker sites averaged 273 cash game players, an increase of 22.6 percent from the previous week’s number of 222.

Peak traffic numbers came in at 677 players, an increase of 4.2 percent from the previous week’s number of 650.

For the third week in a row, players picked Tuesday as their preferred day to play. March 21 saw a peak of 843 players across the four major networks, the highest number in quite a while and significant jump over last week’s highest peak traffic number of 691.

Here’s how those players are distributed across the four online poker networks.

Borgata-MGM-partypoker

The seven-day rolling peak traffic average for partypoker was 176 cash game players. Compared to last week’s traffic average of 169, partypoker ended the week with a  four percent increase in traffic.

WSOP-888

The seven-day rolling peak traffic average for WSOP/888 was 244 cash game players. Compared to last week’s adjusted number of 212, WSOP/888 posted a significant 15 percent increase in traffic.

PokerStars NJ

The seven-day rolling peak traffic average for PokerStars was 245 cash game players. Compared to the 254 players that the site averaged last week, PokerStars saw a small decrease of 3.4 percent in traffic.

Pala Poker

  • Platform provider: Pala
  • Sites in the network: PalaPoker.com

The seven-day rolling peak traffic average for Pala Poker was 11 cash game players. It is a 22.4 percent decrease compared to last week’s traffic number of 14 players.

*Cash game traffic data provided by PokerScout.com. Collected March 26, 2018.

Evaluating cash game traffic trends

There was much rejoicing as cash game traffic posted a double-digit gain this week. The 22.6% gain in average traffic numbers no doubt received a boost from the GSSS Spring ’18 tournament series.

This week, online poker welcomed on average 273 cash game players, a notable increase over last week’s number of 222.

Borgata and the partypoker platform came out on top, which might seem obvious as the host of the GSSS Spring ’18. What’s not always a given, especially in the New Jersey market is the translation of tournament traffic into cash game players. Well, this week there seemed to be a correlation.

partypoker’s cash game traffic posted a modest four percent increase in traffic compared to last week.  Is it a coincidence that the busiest day for online poker coincided with the tournament that exceeded its guarantee by the greatest amount? Most likely not.

WSOP/888 saw the largest gain in cash games traffic for the week. In this market, a 15% increase over the prior week is nothing to sneeze at.

WSOP/888 is running satellites to the WSOP in Nevada, but those haven’t really transferred into cash game traffic in the past. So, while, partypoker hogged all the tournament players, WSOP/888 stood its ground on the cash game front.

Pala Poker and PokerStars, on the other hand, found themselves in negative territory this week. PokerStars posted a moderate 3.4 percent decline in traffic, while Pala’s decline is more significant at 22%. Of course, “significant” is relative, and with Pala’s paltry cash game traffic numbers, any drop registers as substantial.

Don’t expect PokerStars to stay in negative territory for long. They will be looking to change places with partypoker in a few weeks as the NJSCOOP gets underway mid-April.

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Tournament Report: A look at the Sunday Majors

Each week, the four online poker networks host a signature Sunday tournament. This week, Borgata hosted the Garden State Super Series Spring ’18 and replaced its regular Sunday tournament with Event #15. All New Jersey operators will be on their regular Sunday schedule next week.

The major tournaments this week were:

  • The Borgata/partypoker/MGM online poker network hosted the $100,000 guaranteed GSSS Spring ’18 Event #15 – Main Event with a $320 buy-in.
  • The WSOP.com and 888 network hosted the $215 Ultimate Warrior $40,000 guaranteed tournament, also with a $215 buy-in.
  • PokerStars NJ hosted the Sunday Special, a $200 buy-in with a guaranteed prize pool of $45,000.
  • Pala Poker usually hosts the $1,000 Guaranteed Pala Mega Rebuy with a buy-in of $30. The data for this tournament wasn’t available when this article was written.

Major tournament results for March 25, 2018

The final day of the highly-anticipated GSSS Spring ’18 tournament series was on Sunday, and by all accounts it delivered. You can read a full recap of the GSSS Spring ’18 event here.

For now, here a few highlights:

  • More tournaments met their guarantees than didn’t, 11 out of 18 to be exact
  • Event #15 – $100k Guaranteed Main Event had 369 entrants, making it one of the biggest online New Jersey tournaments in a while
  • The series as a whole surpassed its $365,000 guarantee by nearly $100,000

The success of the tournament series garnered a 7.5 percent increase in overall tournament traffic – all of it on the partypoker platform.

In fact, partypoker saw an increase of 24 percent in registrations compared to last week’s major tournament, while WSOP/888 and PokerStars both logged a decline in registrants.

Pala Poker tournament traffic data was unavailable, but they have yet to meet the guarantee for their Sunday major. It’s highly unlikely their numbers would have moved the needle one way or another.

Total entries for the three Sunday majors was 803, of which 46% came from the GSSS Spring ’18 Main Event.

Looking ahead, PokerStars just announced NJSCOOP 2018 tournament dates of April 14-30, 2018. On their blog, they call the series, “The Garden State’s richest tournament series.” With over $1.3 million in guarantees, you can expect a busy few weeks on PokerStars.

Additionally, the next round of satellites to the World Series of Poker should be released soon on WSOP.com and the 888poker platform. With just over two months until the doors are unlocked, you can expect the satellite schedule to be more aggressive and enticing.

And with that, here’s a look at the total number of entries for the largest tournament held on each of the three leading online poker networks in New Jersey:

 

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