The six states that offer legal internet casino gaming generated a combined $533.6 million in gross revenue for October, enough to send the total above $5 billion for the 2023 calendar year.

With two months remaining, the 2023 revenue total has eclipsed the 2022 full-year total of more than $4.8 billion. While October’s figure did not top the $542.7 million record set the previous month, it was still good for third all-time and was an increase of 17.8% from the $453.1 million earned by operators in the previous October.

New Jersey operators had their best month all-time, reaching $166.8 million in adjusted gross revenue. Michigan recorded back-to-back months with at least $160 million in gross revenue for the first time, clearing that benchmark by nearly $274,000 in October. Pennsylvania rounded out the “Big 3” with $154.8 million in operator winnings, marking its first time surpassing $150 million in consecutive months.

The six states collected $106.8 million in taxes at the state level, putting the calendar year total within $2.4 million of $1 billion. Internet casino gaming generated $981.2 million in state taxes in 2022 and $3.27 billion overall.

Golden Nugget, Resorts power Garden State record

Much like how iGaming revenue largely originates from three states, revenue in New Jersey overwhelmingly can be traced back to three platforms: Golden Nugget, Resorts, and the Borgata.

The Golden Nugget took center stage in October, setting an all-time state record for monthly revenue at $49.4 million. The platform that houses FanDuel, BetRivers, and Betway in addition to its own online skin passed its previous mark of $45.1 million in September.

Resorts also contributed to the Garden State’s record haul with its best month at $46 million and moved past the $400 million mark in revenue for the year. Three other Atlantic City casino-based skins — Tropicana, Hard Rock, and Ocean Resort — also had all-time monthly highs to help offset year-over-year declines by the Borgata and Caesars.

In Michigan, FanDuel continues to show tremendous year-over-year growth. The online skin of MotorCity Casino in Detroit, FanDuel set a gross revenue record for the second consecutive month at close to $37 million — an increase of 60.5% compared to October 2022 — and pipped DraftKings for second in the Wolverine State. It has generated $318.5 million in revenue through the first 10 months of 2023, easily blowing past the 2022 full-year total of $258.7 million.

DraftKings cleared $30 million in gross revenue in back-to-back months for the first time in the state and, like FanDuel, has already surpassed its full-year 2022 iGaming revenue total. It is less than $7 million from $300 million in gross revenue for 2023.

BetRivers set a record for the second time in three months with $10.6 million in winnings, while PointsBet topped $2 million for the first time.

Despite the lowest poker rake since February 2020, Pennsylvania still finished with its second-highest internet casino gaming revenue total all-time. Digital revenue was up 24.3% compared to the previous October as those tied to the Hollywood Casino license in the state — a combination of PENN Entertainment’s own operations plus DraftKings, PointsBet, and BetMGM — paced all license-holders with $62.2 million.

That nearly equaled the combined total of the two other large iGaming players in the state, as platforms licensed through Valley Forge Casino Resort and Rivers Philadelphia had a combined $64.7 million in operator winnings. Exclusively iGaming platforms Golden Nugget and Bally’s are still going through some month-over-month growing pains, with revenue at the former slipping to $3 million and the latter increasing incrementally to $1.8 million.

Connecticut hits handle milestone

Among the smaller states offering iGaming, Connecticut operators FanDuel and DraftKings set an all-time handle record of $1.15 billion in October, as they accepted $1 billion worth of wagers in back-to-back months for the first time since launching in October 2021. It was the sixth time in the last 11 months that the two operators combined for $1 billion in bets placed.

The $36.5 million in gross revenue from the Nutmeg State ranked second all-time to September’s $37.6 million and represented a 35.5% increase from October 2022. The $323.5 million in operator gross revenue is already $43 million more than the full-year 2022 total, and permissible operator promotional deductions dropped to 15% as part of the year-by-year phase-out that drops five percentage points every 12 months.

West Virginia iGaming revenue inched higher to $14.3 million in October, good for third all-time in the Mountaineer State despite a 9.5% drop from September handle to nearly $418.1 million. That was still enough to rank second all-time, beating out the $411.5 million worth of wagers in March.

Delaware’s streak of 10 consecutive months with at least $1 million in iGaming revenue came to end, as October’s total was about $18,000 shy of the benchmark. The roughly $983,000 in operator winnings was down 18% from the same month in 2022, as the $30.5 million in overall play was a 22.3% decline from September.

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