Online poker revenues took a dip in April, especially when compared to the same month in 2020.
Online poker revenues took a dip in April, especially when compared to the same month in 2020.
The online poker revenue numbers are in for New Jersey and the results are basically so-so. For WSOP and 888, brands operating via Caesars Entertainment, the month was good compared to March as they saw a nice increase in earnings. The duo actually took in over $1 million in revenues. They were the only ones to be able to see an increase in earnings when compared to the previous month. In general, April totals were down, with a considerable drop when you consider the April 2020 totals, one of the most successful months for the industry to date.
Last year, the online poker industry in the Garden State was booming by April. This was just a few weeks after casinos shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders were in place. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, players were logging online to play poker games.
When considering April 2021 totals, the three poker operators in the state dropped by over 50% when compared to last year. It is important to note that last year, the industry was hitting record highs due to the pandemic. This past month, the state saw just over $2.4 million in earnings. In April 2020, the market generated over $5 million in earnings.
Caesars is leading the group with just over $1 million in earnings. This was a nice increase from the $988,525 that was generated in March. So far this year, Caesars has done well. However, the comparison to April 2021, is a 45% drop in earnings.
The smallest loss was seen by the Borgata, which provides players with access to partypoker and BetMGM. For Borgata, the drop was just 38% from last year. the operator earned close to $750,000 last month, a far cry from the more than $950,000 generated in March.
Surprisingly, the largest drop was seen by PokerStars. The brand decreased by over 68% when compared to last year. In April 2021, the brand only earned just over $640,000. They managed to capture only around 27% of the market.
Now that casinos are getting back to business and pandemic restrictions are almost non-existent, will the online poker market slow down in the Garden State? It is highly likely that it will. The huge jump in earnings from 2020 was mainly attributed to the lack of entertainment in the state.
Players were literally stuck at home, unable to visit friends and family. You can only watch TV and play games for so long until you need something else to do. For many people, that something was online poker.
It is expected that the market will slow down a bit, especially as summer draws near. The summer months are usually a slow time in general for online poker but with people suffering from cabin fever due to COVID-19, it would not be surprising to find that people are more out and about instead of staying home and playing online poker or casino games.