One step forward, two steps back. That seems to be a consistent theme when talking about online poker traffic in New Jersey.
Both cash games and tournament traffic took a dive this week when compared to last week’s numbers. It is somewhat of a surprise because big online poker tournament series tend to draw a decent amount of players to the platforms for both tournaments and cash games.
All the major Sunday tournaments, except for Pala Poker’s Mega Rebuy, met guarantees – but not by much. And overall, the total number entries across platforms was 656, down 11.95% from last week’s number of 745.
On the cash game side of things, PokerStars once again claimed the top spot with the most traffic, but it was partypoker that posted the smallest decline in traffic.
The weekly average cash game traffic saw a 1.7% decrease with 285 players taking to the virtual felt compared to last week’s 290. Peak cash game traffic also fell with an average of 651 players down from 699 players last week for a 6.8% decrease.
While this week might have a been a step back, it’s hopeful next week will be a step forward. The New Jersey Poker Classic II is still running at 888poker, and PokerStars just announced the inaugural New Jersey Turbo Series scheduled to begin this week.
Both series have some enticing guarantees that will hopefully attract players and keep them at the tables.
It is important to note when analyzing the last week’s traffic that we were unable to collect cash game traffic data for WSOP/888 and partypoker on Tuesday, Feb. 13. To accommodate, we took the average of the week without Tuesday’s data and used that number for the charts and comparisons in this report.
Cash game traffic was also unavailable for Pala Poker for the entire week.
With that, 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 Feb. 18, 2018.
New Jersey’s online poker operators
New Jersey has seven online poker sites operating on four separate networks.
During the week of Feb. 12 – Feb. 18, New Jersey online poker sites averaged 285 cash game players, a decrease of 1.7% from the previous week.
Peak traffic numbers were around 651 players, a decrease of 6.8% from the previous week.
Here’s how those players are distributed across the four online poker networks.
Borgata-MGM-partypoker
- Platform provider: partypoker
- Sites in network: BorgataPoker.com – NJ.PartyPoker.com – Poker.NJ.PlayMGM.com
Seven-day rolling cash game traffic data:
- Seven-day rolling peak traffic average: 186 cash game players – up 5.9% compared to the previous seven days
- Cash game traffic data was not available for Tuesday, Feb. 13. The data for that day represents the weekly average
WSOP-888
- Platform provider: 888
- Sites in network: WSOP.com – us.888poker.com
Seven-day rolling cash game traffic data:
- Seven-day rolling peak traffic average: 225 cash game players – down 9.2% compared to the previous seven days
- Cash game traffic data was not available for Tuesday, Feb. 13. The data for that day represents the weekly average
PokerStars NJ
- Platform provider: PokerStars
- Sites in network: PokerStarsNJ.com
Seven-day rolling cash game traffic data:
- Seven-day rolling peak traffic average: 253 cash game players – down 4.7% compared to the previous seven days.
Pala Poker
- Platform provider: Pala
- Sites in network: PalaPoker.com
Cash game traffic data was unavailable for Pala Poker at the time the data for this article was collected.
*Cash game traffic data provided by PokerScout.com and compiled Feb. 20, 2018.
Evaluating cash game traffic trends
PokerStars is back on top for the week, capturing just over 38% of the traffic in the market. There is nothing really to celebrate, though, as the traffic numbers still came in behind last week’s figure, showing a 4.7% decline in traffic.
In fact, all three of the top operators posted a decline in traffic when compared to last week. partypoker posted the best of the worst, with a 3.7% decrease in cash game traffic for the week. (Data was unavailable for Pala Poker at the time the data was collected.)
WSOP/888 had a great week last week but couldn’t post numbers in positive territory three weeks in a row. They saw the most significant decline in traffic with a 7.8% decrease compared to last week.
Looking ahead, WSOP/888 is still running the New Jersey Poker Classic, and PokerStars will begin hosting the New Jersey Turbo Series this week.
It looked like the start of a promising month, quickly turned into more of the same mixed results for online poker in New Jersey. With two major tournament series on the calendar, there is still hope for a strong finish to the month.
Online poker will be entering a busy time, and WSOP satellites will continue to make their way to the platforms, so look for the uptick to continue.
Tournament Report: A look at the Sunday Majors
The four online poker networks host a signature Sunday tournament. This week the major tournaments were:
- The Borgata/partypoker/MGM online poker network hosted a $40,000 guarantee tournament with a $215 buy-in.
- The WSOP.com and 888 network hosted the $350 buy-in, $80,000 guaranteed Sunday Spectacular as part of the New Jersey Poker Classic II that is currently running.
- PokerStars NJ hosted the Sunday Special, a $200 buy-in with a guarantee of $45,000.
- Pala Poker hosted the $1,000 Guaranteed Pala Mega Rebuy with a buy-in of $30.
Major tournament results for Feb. 18, 2018
Last week, tournament entries declined 11.9% from the week prior. As mentioned earlier, this is a little surprising because New Jersey usually shows up for big tournament series.
Knowing this, look for tournament numbers to rebound next week with the New Jersey Turbo Series on Poker Stars joins the New Jersey Poker Classic II on WSOP/888 to create a jam-packed tournament schedule.
Add to the WSOP satellites that are running through the weekend, and there’s a little something for everyone and let’s hope that translates into positive numbers for next week.
Look for these marquee events on Sunday, Feb. 25:
- The Borgata/partypoker/MGM online poker network is scheduled to host its usual $40,000 guarantee tournament with a $215 buy-in.
- The WSOP.com and 888poker network will host a $500 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed tournament as part of the New Jersey Poker Classic II that is currently running.
- PokerStars NJ will host a $200 5-card PLO tournament as part of the Turbo Series with a guarantee of $12,000, along with its regular $200 $45,000 guaranteed Sunday Special.
- Pala Poker will host the $1,000 Guaranteed Pala Mega Rebuy with a buy-in of $30.
Note: For the latest and most up-to-date tournament information, always check the poker client.
This is the second week in a row that three of the four operators exceeded their guarantees. Pala Poker is still struggling to meet theirs; this week’s guarantee of the Sunday Mega Rebuy was reduced from $2,000 to $1,000.
And with that, here’s a look at the total number of entries for the most significant tournament held on each of the online poker networks in New Jersey:
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