Online Gambling Growth Slows in New Jersey's Third Month

The end of February saw New Jersey's online gambling venture complete its third full month of live operations and numbers revealed show that growth has slowed down, with just a small increase of 9% for February. While January saw a substantial 28% gain on December with $9.5 millions in total revenue, February's revenue was just $10.3 million from the combined 16 sites in operation. Brian Mattingley the CEO of 888 Holdings is not put off by the numbers, in fact quite the opposite, stating that, "We are delighted with the way it has started, All of us got into a good rhythm and started some good marketing. Overall, I'm delighted with where we're at." Problems continue in the state regarding geo-location software and the acceptance of credit cards by the online casinos, and these major issues could be what's holding back further growth.

New Jersey began regulating online casinos back in November 2013 and is one of three states to do so, the other two being Nevada and Delaware, however it's not only the online side of things that are struggling in the Garden State as land based casinos also saw a decline, down 1.4% in February year on year winnings. With the closure of the Atlantic Club casino it was the Golden Nugget who gained most, moving in on their old customers after the closure and this paid dividends seeing the casino posting the largest monthly gain in New Jersey, as opposed to the Trump Plaza which was down 25% and the Trump Taj Mahal down 24%. The online struggle for the number one spot in the state is being fought out between the Borgata and Caesar's, with the Borgata in partnership with Party Poker and Caesar's with WSOP.com, with the Borgata winning $4.3 million in February and Caesar's with $3.3 million. There's still a long way to go and until all issues regarding deposits and geo-location are fixed then it will remain tough to tell who the long term winner will be.