New Jersey joined neighboring New York as the only states to surpass $1 billion in sports betting revenue in 2023 Tuesday after the Division of Gaming Enforcement reported that operators claimed more than $109.4 million in winnings for December.

It was the second time in four months that operator revenue surpassed $100 million, with December’s total ranking behind only the $114.8 million claimed in November 2021 and $111.1 million won in September. It was also up 24.8% from the previous December and 14.1% higher than November. Garden State sportsbooks cleared $1 billion in winnings by $6.6 million, as total revenue surged 31.9% over the $763 million claimed in 2022.

More than $1.28 billion was wagered on New Jersey’s betting apps in December, as New bettors came within $28 million of topping $12 billion handle for 2023 and helped fashion an 8.5% hold to close out the year. Handle compared to 2022 was up 9.4%, proving again that there is life without New York bettors needing to cross the Hudson.

New Jersey received more than $13.9 million in taxes for December, lifting the full-year total to $128.9 million. That was up slightly more than $31 million compared to 2022.

After holding operators to a 6.1% hold on parlay bets in November, it appears New Jersey bettors wanted to continue their roll. Parlay handle reached a staggering all-time high of $488.8 million in December, up almost $120 million from November, as total parlay wagers for the calendar year crested over $3 billion and above $10 billion all-time.

The house fared far better in December compared to November, but the 13.3% hold was still more than 4.7 percentage points under the 2023 full-year win rate of 18%. That meant the $64.8 million in operator winnings ranked third all-time, trailing the $70.8 million claimed in November 2021 and $68.2 million kept in September.

Operators claimed a whopping $550.9 million in parlay revenue in 2023, slightly more than $100 million above the $450.8 million accrued in 2022. Single-event wagering was more subdued, though operators reaped an all-time monthly high of $29.7 million in football winnings from almost $399.2 million handle, good for a 7.5% hold.

Year-over-year basketball revenue was up 69% to $92.7 million, as the hold nearly doubled from 2022 to 3.5%. The house gave back some in the catch-all “other” category, which includes hockey, soccer, tennis, golf, mixed martial arts, and motorsports. After collecting a record $44.8 million in November, that figure was whittled to $6.3 million in December, as handle dwindled 65.5% to $113.6 million and the hold plunged more than eight percentage points to 5.6%

The three mobile tethers to the Meadowlands — FanDuel, PointsBet, and SuperBook — were denied a third straight month with a combined $50 million in revenue by roughly $700,000. The NJDGE does not provide handle figures by licensee, but the trio paced all operators in winnings and was a comfortable $14.5 million ahead of Resorts Digital for the top spot.

Resorts, which has DraftKings as its primary online skin, claimed $34.8 million in revenue — more than October and November combined. Still, the $314.5 million in revenue was more than double its 2022 total of $153.3 million.

While impossible to judge just how well ESPN BET did in its first full month of action in the Garden State, bettors seemed to hold their own. Along with betPARX and PlayUp, the Freehold Raceway digital skins totaled $3 million in revenue. That was down 38% from November’s year-best of $4.8 million, as the PENN Entertainment licensees closed 2023 with $28.2 million in winnings.

On the retail side, Harrah’s was the lone sportsbook to end 2023 with a yearly loss, as bettors came out $86,121 to the good. The Borgata paced all brick-and-mortar venues with over $4.5 million in winnings, a swing of more than $8 million to the positive from 2022 after paying out $3.6 million above the wagers they accepted.