888Casino leaves New Jersey two weeks later than planned
888Casino has packed up its bags and departed the New Jersey online casino space, albeit two weeks later than originally anticipated.
Initially, it was thought that 888Casino and 888Poker would shut down all operations on June 3, however, an unexpected two-week winding down period was granted.
This meant that NJ online casino and poker players were afforded more time to place bets online, as the sites formally closed down on June 17.
Now, 888Casino and 888Poker have removed their apps in NJ, and players have been advised to sign up for Hard Rock Bet. However, the migration isn’t an automatic process, so users will have to disable their own accounts.
The move to leave NJ was part of a broader strategic move planned by 888, who have been hemorrhaging money in the US.
To put things into a wider context, 888Poker accounted for just two-thirds of a percent of NJ online poker win in March 2024, while 888Casino’s win amount equated to just three-tenths of a percent of NJ’s overall online casino win for the same month.
Indeed, Evoke, which is the parent company of 888, is also expected to close down in five other states, with Hard Rock likely to wrap up a takeover of 888’s B2C assets in the fourth quarter of 2024.
If the acquisition goes ahead as reported, the NJ online casino market will be missing one option.
In the meantime, WSOP.com players in NJ and Nevada are set to benefit from the upgrade of Evoke’s new Poker 8 platform.
With an emphasis on smoother gameplay on desktops and mobile phones, as well as quicker load times, players will reap the rewards.
Discussing the measures taken last month, Jeffrey Haas, Evoke’s chief growth officer, said: “With a relentless focus on customer experience, our poker proposition has continually evolved and pushed the boundaries for online poker players globally for more than two decades.
“We look forward to working with our partners at the World Series of Poker to leverage this technology to substantially enrich their customers’ online experience.
“Poker is a game of liquidity and network effects, and our Poker 8 upgrade will be a catalyst for expansion.”
Of course, the decision to pull out of the States for 888 remains disappointing, although players have a dozen other iGaming and online poker platforms to pick from.
With NJ continuing to gain momentum in the casino sphere, it will be fascinating to see how Hard Rock Bet performs.
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