The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported that a record $171.6 million in online casino revenue was earned by operators in November, helping the state post a solid 9.4% year-over-year increase in overall gaming winnings.

It was the second consecutive month and fourth time in 2023 that New Jersey online casinos achieved a new standard for revenue. Legal online casinos first cleared $150 million to close out 2022 before topping that mark in January. They then pushed over $160 million in March and set a record with $166.8 million in October before crashing through the $170 million mark last month.

November’s figure was a 17.4% increase from 12 months ago, providing operators $25.4 million more in revenue. They have generated $1.74 billion in revenue heading into the final month of 2023, up 15.4% from the $1.51 billion claimed in 2022. Online poker rake in November totaled nearly $2.1 million, a 2.4% decline from last year.

Overall, gaming revenue totaled $482.4 million for November, a decline of just under 1% from the $487.1 million generated in October. Atlantic City casinos reported $214.9 million in retail revenue for November, up 0.2% from 2022 as gains in slot revenue were just enough to offset declines in casino table games.

Sports wagering revenue totaled close to $95.9 million, an increase of 19.2% from November 2022 that was aided by a record handle of $1.6 billion. Sports betting has produced the best year-over-year increase in terms of percentage in 2023 for New Jersey gaming, as the $897.2 million is a 32.9% increase versus the first 11 months of last year.

The state last month received $51.1 million in gaming taxes, with the $25.7 million from iCasino accounting for just over half that amount. Casino taxes totaled almost $13.1 million, while sports wagering provided the remaining $12.3 million. New Jersey has claimed $540.3 million in state taxes from gaming thus far this year.

Golden Nugget the first to $50 million in monthly revenue

More internet casino gaming history was made in November as Golden Nugget became the first in the state to generate $50 million in monthly revenue, topping that threshold by nearly $114,000. It was the third consecutive monthly record for Golden Nugget, which hit $45.1 million in September before vaulting to $49.4 million in October.

Golden Nugget, which counts FanDuel, BetRivers, and Betway as partners providing platforms in addition to its own website, had not cleared $40 million until kicking off 2023 with $40.6 million. November’s haul was a 32.9% increase compared to the same month last year and allowed Golden Nugget to eclipse its full-year 2022 revenue total of $431.7 million. The nearly $472 million in revenue through the first 11 months is running 19.8% ahead of last year’s pace.

Resorts Digital — whose New Jersey license includes DraftKings, the newly launched ESPN BET, and Mohegan Sun — created some separation between itself and Borgata for the No. 2 spot at $47.2 million. Like for Golden Nugget, it was also the third consecutive month with a new record, extending beyond the $46 million from October and up 26.4% year-over-year. The $461.7 million in year-to-date revenue is up 30.8% compared to this point in 2022.

While the Borgata‘s $37.9 million was up $2.3 million from October, it was a 14.4% decline from last year and marked the first time it failed to reach $40 million in back-to-back months since January and February of last year — the last months before surpassing $40 million for the first time. The year-over-year slide moved Borgata into slightly negative territory for year-over-year comparisons as the $449.3 million is down 0.7% compared to the first 11 months of 2022.

The record months attained by Tropicana ($9 million), Hard Rock ($8.7 million), Bally’s ($7.9 million), and Ocean Resort ($5 million) were more than enough to cancel out a 29.8% decline by Caesars, whose revenue tumbled to $5.7 million.

Hard Rock and Bally’s trend positively in Atlantic City

Only three of the nine casinos in Atlantic City posted year-over-year gains in November, with Hard Rock bouncing 16.7% higher to $41.4 million. Table games revenue was up 28.8% to $13.2 million, aided by an 18.8% hold that was 4.9 percentage points higher compared to last year. Hard Rock’s 2,398 slots in operation were a high for 2023, up 80 positions from last month and contributing to an 11.9% increase in revenue to almost $28.3 million.

The Borgata led all venues with $51.7 million in winnings, down 6.7% from 2022 as table games revenue tumbled 20% to $11.5 million. The 14.1% win rate was a low for 2023 and just the second time in the last 18 months it was below 15%.

Ocean Casino eked out a 1.4% gain to $31.4 million, but that was 27.6% off its record October haul of $43.4 million. The betting public fared much better on the felt in November, knocking down the win rate more than 50% to 12.3%. That resulted in table games revenue plunging 63.9% to $6.8 million.

Bally’s was the other venue to post a year-over-year gain as its $12.1 million in winnings was up 20.4%. Its win rate for table games doubled from the previous November to 20.3%, contributing to a 73.6% surge in revenue to more than $3.8 million.

No year-over-year declines among the six venues reached double figures in terms of percentage, though the sharpest drop came at Caesars. It was down 7.7% to $17.5 million, but that was also a 21.8% improvement from October. After posting an all-time low table games hold of 5.4% the previous month, the dealers struck back to craft an 18.5% win rate as revenue more than tripled to $4.8 million.

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