GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 29 - July 2014

Skrill and NETELLER are both avail- able to use to make deposits to many of the state's sites, in addition to ACH and regular bank transfers. But Party Poker currently rejects Skrill deposits fundedby aMasterCard, whileNETELLER transac- tions carry a 2.5percent fee. And then there's the overarching issue of payment methods being declined: When a site refuses to takeaplayer's credit card, that player loses faith in the site's reliabil- ity, orworse, legality. "When launchingabrand-newproduct in the U.S. the credit and banking industry understands that compliance is of the ut- most importance," Lupo said. "Therewas an expectation that, even after launch, there was going to be a need for clients to learn and tounderstand our processes. Thatwas just going to take time." The Borgata, meanwhile, is actively seeking alternative payment methods. BorgataCasino.com and Party Poker are now offering players the opportunity to deposit funds via a prepaid card, which can be done with a credit card. But the registration process is arduous, and the prepaid cards carry a $3monthly account maintenance fee, in addition to $2 ATM withdrawal fees. These are all redflags to consumers, who are generally used to shopping online for anything, anytime, with the click of a mouse and their credit card number. The online gambler in a regulated mar- ket should theoretically be able to do the same thing. But until that becomes a real- ity, themarketmay continue to stagnate. Poker'sdownward trend "The poker player was savvier andmore prone to jump on quicker, but it's going to be the growth of the casino player that will be the story as themarket plays out," Lupo said. It's no secret that, generally, online ca- sinos generate far more revenue than poker. But the excitement for the newly regulated New Jersey market was most notablyheldbypokerplayers,who, in the U.S., are largely more comfortable with the overall idea of online gaming. For the common poker player still reeling from BlackFriday, New Jerseywas a chance to get back in thegame. And the poker revenue numbers looked pretty good for awhile, starting off at $3 million inDecember and remaining rela- tively constant since then. But revenue doesn't tell thewhole story; online poker traffic in New Jersey began a steady de- cline inFebruary. WhenPartyPoker'sNew JerseyChampion- shipofOnlinePoker (NJCOP) came to the state in April — and coincided perfectly with theBorgata's liveSpringPokerOpen — it looked like it could be the boost the market needed to acquire more players and begin trending upwards. But every singleNJCOPeventhadaprizepoolover- lay andpoker revenue declinednearly 20 percent inApril. This begs the question: Will New Jersey join Nevada and Delaware and begin sharing liquidity? With less traffic and falling revenues, it could very well be in the cards going forward. Offshore sites leaving OnApril 17, the DGE sent a letter to six online poker affiliates asking them to cease and desist from promoting online gaming sites that are not licensed and regulatedbyNew Jersey. OnlinePokerReport.com obtained a letter sent to RakeTheRake.com in which the DGE states that the site, "byoffering links to sites whichmay be offering unauthor- ized online gaming, may be promoting activity that is contrary toNew Jerseyand federal law." On May 14, unregulated poker site AmericasCardroom, part of theWinning PokerNetwork, announced itwouldstop serving players in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware. In a matter of days, the Equity Poker Network and Bovada – bothunregulated in theU.S. –made sim- ilar announcements. This move by the DGE is designed to providemore clarity for New Jersey resi- dents. If anaffiliate ispromotingboth reg- ulated and unregulated sites, a potential playermight lose trust in the industry as awhole. "The DGE is doing its job," said Allan Petrilli, manager of the affiliate servic- es department at IncomeAccess, which currently works with both the Borgata and Betfair on their New Jersey affili- ate programs. "It is responsible for the regulations and administering them. Regulated iGaming in theU.S. is a very new thing, however land-based gam- inghas beenoperating for decades. The intent of the rules for iGaming are not any different." Though it has yet to be seen what will comeof this letter, theviewheldbymany operators, regulators and affiliates is that players will leave unregulated sites and come to sites licensed by the state. This will producemore revenue, create higher trafficandoverall createaclearerenviron- ment in themarket. But theDGE letterwon't just helpplayers gain more clarity; it will also help affili- ates serious about growing their business in theU.S. "Asanaffiliate, if you're concentratingon wanting to grow with the U.S. market, “ As anaffiliate, if you're concentrating onwanting togrowwith theU.S. market, understandwhat your decisionmeans andunderstand that theDGE is serious about its job and its role.”—AllanPetrilli 43 Affiliates face a different business environment inNew Jersey