Gambling in the USA
New Jersey Chalks Up Impressive Swell in February Sports Betting Winnings
The numerous casinos and horseracing tracks in the American state of New Jersey saw their aggregated February winnings from sports betting rise by 10.4% year-on-year to just over $412 million.
The information released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement included land-based and online sports betting revenues with winnings from this former activity having increased by 1.2% year-on-year to almost $215 million. However, the same figures showed that only three of the eastern state’s nine casinos encompassing the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and the Ocean Casino Resort won more from in-person sports wagers than they had for the corresponding period in 2019.
The New Jersey regulator explained that local winnings from online sports betting in February had risen by nearly 10% year-on-year to reach $142.5 million largely thanks to interest in Super Bowl LVII. The monthly handle tied to this annual gridiron championship extravaganza totaled $847.4 million with $54.6 million having been left following the payment of winning wagers and other expenses.
“Locally, the addition of two new casino resorts to the established seven has disrupted market share,” Jane Bokunewicz, Director for the Lloyd Levenson Institute at Stockton University, said. “The local market pie has grown but the way that pie is cut has changed, shifting in favor of the newest entrants to the market.”
Breaking the figures down further and the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa recorded in-person February sports betting revenues of $12.2 million, which equated to a swell of 14.3% year-on-year. This saw the 2,767-room Atlantic City property’s overall win for the 28-day period improve by 8.8% to $57.4 million with its online operation having chalked up a 7.4% rise to take the overall monthly tally to $101.2 million.
For the nearby Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City facility and in-person February sports betting revenues grew by less than 1% year-on-year to some $37.5 million with its related combined online and land-based win having dropped by an analogous percentage to approximately $44.4 million. The situation was worse for the 1,400-room Ocean Casino Resort as on-site sports wagering receipts fell by 11.5% to $26.2 million with the merged tally sitting 2.2% down at something like $30.1 million.
Elsewhere and in-person February sports betting revenues for the Caesars Atlantic City facility improved by 1.4% year-on-year to just over $19 million with this tally having improved by less than 1% to hit $19.2 million when Internet and sports wagering monies were included. The Golden Nugget Atlantic City venue similarly won $11.1 million from on-site sports wagering, which equated to an almost 14% decrease, with its co-mingled tally having remained virtually static at $47.8 million.
In-person February sportsbetting revenues for the Harrah’s Atlantic City property improved by 8.1% year-on-year to $21.3 million while the 942-room Resorts Casino Hotel and the 2,300-room Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City experienced slight declines as their finishing on-site tallies came in at $12.6 million and $17.2 million respectively.
Among Internet-only entities and Resorts Digital saw its February online sports betting win reach $48.2 million, which represented a swell of more than 25% year-on-year, while the tally for Caesars Interactive NJ disappointingly decreased by 17.5% to $8.3 million.
Gambling in the USA
New Trade Association Launches Unprecedented Effort to Strengthen Responsible Online Gaming, Promote Best Practices
The Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA), an independent trade association launched by seven of the largest U.S. legal mobile gaming companies, will actively promote a new industry-wide best practices charter, overseen by one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of responsible gaming (RG).
This unprecedented effort will be led by Dr. Jennifer Shatley, a deeply respected responsible gaming executive with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. She will serve as ROGA’s full-time Executive Director, and her role will be to facilitate widespread education to all relevant parties on the subject of responsible gaming.
ROGA will embark on a series of initiatives under Dr. Shatley’s direction. These include research, consumer and industry responsible gaming education and awareness, promoting responsible gaming best practices, an independent data clearinghouse, and an independent certification program.
Demonstrating their commitment to this endeavor, initial member companies – who together represent more than 85% of the legalized online sports betting and iGaming industry – have pledged more than $20 million in support of ROGA’s mission in year one. ROGA’s member companies include BetMGM, bet365, DraftKings, Fanatics Betting and Gaming, FanDuel, Hard Rock Digital, and PENN Entertainment.
“I am humbled, honored, and excited to be selected to lead ROGA during this important period of growth in legalized mobile gaming. Many of America’s largest legal mobile gaming operators will be establishing a framework that helps to aid in responsible gaming education and awareness. Together, our members will work alongside researchers, experts, regulators and stakeholders to promote responsible online gaming and maximize our efforts to support additional responsible gaming education and awareness. By coming together with a clear set of objectives, ROGA and our members will work to enhance consumer protections and help provide easier and more efficient access to responsible gaming tools for consumers to enjoy the entertainment of online gaming,” said Dr. Shatley.
Compliance Updates
Play’n GO awarded Pennsylvania license 
Play’n GO has continued on its upward trajectory in North America by landing its latest US iGaming licenses and will soon supply its award-winning content portfolio to operators and players in Pennsylvania and Delaware
These licenses are the fifth and sixth obtained by the Swedish gaming giants in the USA, following New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, and Connecticut.
Play’n GO have taken a dual-pronged approach to its strategy in North America, with these US licenses being complimented by the company’s success north of the border in Canada, where Play’n GO was one of the first suppliers to be licensed to supply slot games in the province of Ontario.
Although early in its American journey, Play’n GO games such as Piggy Blitz, make regular appearances in the top 15 most popular titles in all of North America*.
Magnus Olsson, Chief Commercial Officer for Play’n GO, said: “Play’n GO content is the most conducive to player retention across the industry. With player acquisition costs sky high in the US, we’re pleased to be able to offer operators in Pennsylvania access to our content which will keep players coming back for more.
“We are determined to be the number one casino gaming supplier in every regulated market in the world, and given that we are thriving in more than 25 jurisdictions around the world where we have a license, we fully expect a similar success story in Pennsylvania in the coming years.”
Play’n GO is set to release more than 50 online slot titles in 2024 and is active in more than 25 regulated jurisdictions worldwide, including Ontario, New Jersey, Michigan and West Virginia in North America.
Gambling in the USA
Lightning Box concocts scientific experiment with new release Experi-MENTAL
 Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ and ASX: LNW) (together with its subsidiaries, “Light & Wonder” or “L&W”) announced the launch of its new game, Experi-MENTAL, stacked with features, modifiers and a clash with the mad scientist.
Experi-MENTAL has two in-game features to enhance the overall player experience.
This 3×5 title, exhibits the distinctive Expanding Wild Feature, which can award huge prizes for players should the Wild Brain symbol expand and replicate by five times during the Free Games round.
When players enter the mad scientist’s lab, they will stumble across the Upgrading Feature, which zaps the 9, 10, J, Q, K or A symbols into high-paying icons, including Test Tubes, Power Switch, Cat, Pug or Man. The wins are then accumulated and paid out once the reels have stopped spinning.
The Barrel Pick Feature can radio-activate the feature by awarding an extra 15 Free Games, as players are presented with highly dangerous barrels with an unknown material.
A meter appears when players select a barrel, with a red area and a green area in view. Landing on the meter’s green area ensures the Free Games round is triggered and additional games are awarded but landing in the red zone activates only the round itself.
The classic Free Games mode is unlocked when Scatter symbols appear, with five Scatters granting the maximum of 10 Free Games and the Barrel Pick Feature. During the round, Free Games can be retriggered at any time.
Experi-MENTAL is set to go live with Caesars in New Jersey, Michigan and Ontario initially, and will be available at a later date to customers of Light & Wonder’s industry-leading OPENGAMING™ platform.
 Michael Maokhamphiou, Studio Director at Lightning Box, said: “Experi-MENTAL is one Wacky slot game, and we believe it can propel our slots onto the next level.
 “During this game, players can unlock some new features, which add a dramatic element to this slot and classic round that are a cornerstone of Lightning Box’s portfolio. We are in no doubt will love taking on the mad scientist in this epic title.”
 Rob Procter, VP of Game Development at Light & Wonder, said: “2024 is going to be a big year for Lightning Box and the launch of Experi-MENTAL gives players the opportunity to showcase this thrilling game.
 “With a variety of different features exhibited on this captivating title, it sets Lightning Box apart from its competitors, ensuring the player experience is unrivalled.”
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