Inside Gaming: Atlantic City Revenue Increases Again in June
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Another Year-Over-Year Increase for NJ Casinos
Overall June was another positive month for Atlantic City casinos, collectively speaking, with total gaming revenue showing a 21.5 percent increase year-over-year according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
After earning $233.6 million in June 2018, the state's casinos' revenue totaled $283.8 million, marking a 13th-straight month of increases in the Garden State.
The Press of Atlantic City points out, however, that the streak of revenue increases may be coming to an end soon, given that June will represent the last full month of year-over-year comparisons between seven operating casinos (in 2018) and nine (in 2019).
Both the Hard Rock Hotel Casino Atlantic City and the Ocean Casino Resort first opened their doors during the last week of June 2018.
Industry observers echoed that point, including Rummy Pandit of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University. Pandit noted to the Press how "this... trend [of increases] we should expect to see through 2019 and beyond, however year-over-year and month-to-month comparisons will likely be less pronounced."
Gaming consultant Bob Ambrose, an adjunct professor at Farleigh Dickinson University, likewise speculated that "we'll see a level of consistency going forward, [though] perhaps (without) these large double-digit spikes that we've seen in the last (year)."
When looking at total gaming win (combining casino win, internet gaming win, and sports wagering revenue), two casinos showed year-over-year increases in June — the Borgata (up 7.7 percent) and Golden Nugget Atlantic City (up 2.2 percent).
Meanwhile showing decreases were the Resorts Casino Hotel (down 5.1 percent), Caesars Atlantic City (down 5.8 percent), Bally's Atlantic City (down 7.9 percent), the Tropicana Atlantic City (down 13.9 percent), and Harrah's Atlantic City (down 17.3 percent).
The Ocean Casino Resort enjoyed its best month ever in June with total gaming revenue of almost $21.5 million, while Hard Rock Atlantic City earned more than $32.5 million, nearly matching its best-ever month of $32.7 million in July 2018.
The overall casino win was up 13.7 percent year-over-year, with the internet gaming win also well ahead of a year ago, totaling $38.1 million in June 2019 versus $22.7 million in June 2018 for a 67.8 percent increase.
That said, online gaming revenue was down slightly from the $38.3 million earned in May. Sports wagering revenue was down month-to-month as well, from over $15.5 million to $9.7 million in June, although the latter total still represents a big increase over June 2018's $3.45 million (the first full month of sports betting in the state).
Of note — almost 83 percent of wagers made on sporting events in New Jersey in June were made via online or mobile platforms, the Press reports.
Stars Come Out for NYC Charity Tournament
Rounders co-writer Brian Koppelman, bestselling author and Team PokerStars Pro Maria Konnikova, and actor Kevin Pollak were among the participants in the Take 'Em to School Poker Tournament in Manhattan on Wednesday.
The event raised more than $550,000 for Education Reform Now, a charity designed to promote standards and accountability in public eduction, in particular for students of color and those coming from low-income families.
Bloomberg was there to provide a detailed report of the event which also saw a number of deep-pocketed hedge fund managers take part, among them Marc Lasry of the Avenue Capital Group and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital.
Also participating were former New York Knicks players Charles Smith and John Starks. The annual event was again presented by World Poker Tour Foundation, and the WPT's Vince Van Patten, Lynn Gilmartin, and Tony Dunst were on hand as well.
With billionaires among the participants, the scene as described by Bloomberg sounded not that far removed from one that might appear in an episode of Billions, the Showtime series created by Koppelman and his Rounders co-writer David Levien along with Andrew Ross Sorkin. In particular it evokes one from a second season episode featuring a Wall Street charity poker tournament called the "Alpha Cup."
Theatrical producer Ayal Miodovnik ultimately won the tournament.
Three Pennsylvania Online Casinos Now Open, No Poker As Yet
A couple of weeks ago in this space we were on the edge of our seats readying for a "soft launch" of the first online casinos in Pennsylvania. After all, anticipation had built up considerably since state regulators had announced in April that the "live period for interactive gaming will commence on July 15, 2019."
That date finally arrived, and as anticipated both Parx Casino and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course were both up and running with online casinos by the target date, with the Sugarhouse Casino also joining the fun with the launch of their online casino a couple of days later.
All three sites are offering a number of different types of online slots as well as some table games like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat. While there are some video poker games available as well, none has as yet offered online poker per se.
All three have licenses to open online poker rooms along with their casinos, as do Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack, Mount Airy Casino Resort, Valley Forge Casino Resort, and the Wind Creek Casino and Resort (formerly Sands Bethlehem).
Speaking for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board just before the first online casinos' launch, Doug Harbach told The Philadelphia Inquirer the sites would begin with slots and table games "played against a computer," and that "online peer-to-peer poker, which involves human competitors, is more complicated and will be launched at a later date."
Speaking to pokerfuse a couple of days later, Harbach reiterated that as far as online poker in Pennsylvania is concerned, "we cannot predict a timeline on that now" and that "poker will be rolled out when operators are prepared to do so."
Photo: "Stacking chips,” World Poker Tour, CC BY-ND 2.0.
