One of the reasons for the success of the New Jersey online gambling industry is the work of Evolution Gaming. Just last week the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) gave approval for the company to expand its live casino studio at the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Atlantic City to more than double its original size.
In the studio there will be new tables such as:
• Money Wheel
• Side Bet City
• 24 new live blackjack tables
The studio opened in August 2018 and has since provided live dealer games to the following New Jersey online casinos:
• 888 Casino
• PlaySugarHouse
• Ocean Casino Resort
• Hard Rock Casino
• Resorts Casino Hotel
• Mohegan Sun
• DraftKings Casino
Live dealer games are run by trained croupiers on actual casino tables and simulcast online. Interactive betting interfaces allow players to make wagers in real time, thus emulating the pace and feel of table games at land-based casinos.
Evolution set to expand to Pennsylvania
The Evolution Gaming live studio in AC was the company’s first in the United States. In September the company received approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to set up a new live studio in the Keystone State. The Pennsylvania studio is expected to open in 2020 and will feature at least 10 live dealer casino tables. The games will be shown on the website of Penn National Gaming’s Hollywood Casino after the firm made a deal with Evolution Gaming in October of this year.
Games featured at the Pennsylvania live dealer studio will include:
• American roulette
• Slingshot roulette
• Blackjack with side bets and bet behind
• Baccarat
• Three-card poker
• Ultimate Texas Hold’em poker
New Jersey live dealer scene trending upwards
In August 2016 the only NJ online casino with live dealer games was the Golden Nugget, which had a deal with Ezugi New Jersey that included a live casino studio on GN’s Atlantic City property.
Betfair opened up its live dealer studio in May 2017 and later expanded the live games offered. Fast forward to April 2018 and Borgata Casino, BetMGM, and PartyCasino all had live dealer studios run by Ezugi New Jersey. Evolution Gaming entered the market in August with the launch of the Hard Rock studio.
Golden Nugget is one of the leaders in the NJ online gaming industry and attributes much of that success to live dealer games.
“The benefits of offering live dealer games far exceed the extra cost,” said Thomas Winter, senior vice-president at Golden Nugget.
According to Winter, about 25% of the players at the Golden Nugget online casino play live dealer tables. The live casino also boosted online table game revenue by 150% in 2018, far outstripping monthly online poker revenues.