New Jersey‘s sports betting market is on fire, having set the national record for the highest amount wagered on sports for the third consecutive month, as gamblers staked more than $803 million in October.

According to figures from the state Division of Gambling Enforcement (pdf), Atlantic City’s nine casinos and three horse racing tracks that offer sports betting, all totaled, took in $803,096,172, breaking previous monthly records set in August and September of $667.9 million and $748.5 million respectively.

15 percent increase:

Total gambling revenue in the Garden State for October was $338 million, an increase of 15 percent from the same time in 2019. However, the lion’s share of the gains was derived from sports betting and internet gambling, while revenue from actual physical gambling at Atlantic City‘s nine brick and mortars was down 8 percent to $186.1 million for the month.

The biggest monthly gain was seen at Ocean Casino Resort at $29.1 million, a 37 percent increase compared to figures from last year in October.

Chief Executive Officer for the Atlantic City property, Tery Gleblocki, said…

“Ocean just completed its 12th straight operational month of year-over-year gaming growth. We are grateful to our guests for their loyalty even during these unprecedented times.”

Other increases include:

  • Hard Rock Atlantic City – $35.4 million, up 25.6 percent from 2019
  • Golden Nugget Atlantic City – $38.6 million, up 21.2 percent
  • Borgata – $67.5 million, up 10.5 percent
  • Tropicana Atlantic City – $27.2 million, up 3.5 percent

Chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, James Plousis, said…

“Casino win was 92% of last October’s performance, even though the two years are not reasonably comparable.

”During this time, Atlantic City continues to show resilience in the face of necessary and ongoing restrictions on capacity, amenities, and entertainment,” according to the Associated Press via the Boston Herald.

Under executive orders put in place by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, the casinos are operating at 25 percent capacity in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

New restrictions:

A recent spike in COVID-19 positivity has also seen Governor Murphy impose new restrictions that came into effect on November 12 requiring all casinos to stop serving food and drinks at 10pm and prohibiting all barside seating. In response to the new regulations, the Boardwalk city’s top earner, the Borgata, laid off 73 workers and another 349 had their hours cut.

Massachusetts in October:

Meanwhile, in nearby Massachusetts, legal sports betting has been approved by the House in its economic development bill. However, the Senate’s failure to authorize any betting leaves the decision to legalize sports betting in the final jobs bill to a conference committee consisting of three senators and three representatives, which have for over three months been in the midst of private negotiations.

The Bay State‘s three casinos, Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor, also want in on sports betting action.

In related news, on Monday the Massachusetts Gaming Commission announced that the trio of casinos had generated a cumulative $68.73 million in gross gaming revenue in October, down from $70.54 million in September and $71 million in August. The state’s take for the month was lower than the $22.56 million full-month average since all three facilities have been in operation.

“The three licensees collected approximately 88% of gross gaming revenue on approximately 50 percent of the gaming positions available, as compared to October 2019,” the Gaming Commission said in its Monday revenue announcement (pdf).