According to a report by the industry research firm Eilers & Krejcik, after winnings rose a brisk 32 percent for New Jersey online gambling in the year 2016, that growth could be halved in 2017 thanks to the leveling off of internet poker play.
"There's not really enough players in New Jersey alone to support an online poker market," said Chris Grove, an author of the report and senior consultant at Eilers & Krejcik, which specializes in the gambling technology and interactive gambling.
The state Division of Gaming Enforcement reported in the last month that the online revenues, or "win," for the state casino industry was $196.7 million in the year 2016, which is up 32.1 percent from 2015.
Grove said that, despite of the innovations like "live" online dealers, that growth will slow to something more like 17 percent for the year 2017, because one of the online gambling's biggest money winners is poker, and most of the 7 million adults in the New Jersey who are likely to play poker online are already playing.
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In its analysis report of New Jersey's slowing online poker market, Eilers & Krejcik cites New Jersey law only permits the play at Garden State virtual casinos by people physically within the state boundaries, and limiting the pool of players.
So, Grove said that, the only one way to expand the pool would be for New Jersey to enter into an agreement with the two other states that also allow online poker, Delaware and Nevada, as those states have already done with each other.
Grove said that, even those two states' online casinos are struggling to full fill their virtual tables with enough real players, and adding to it he said that New Jersey to the mix still might not be sufficient for what he called "a healthy online poker eco-system."
What really needs to happen for online poker game to hit the jack pot, Grove said, would be a decision by the New York and Pennsylvania to allow online card games.
Those two states are now considering the move to make, Grove said, and if it happens, "then the story starts to look a little different."
The tax on all gambling winnings in New Jersey supports programs for the elderly and disabled, with the online gambling taxed at nearly twice the rate of winnings at the physical casinos.
By Mrudula.
