Disappointing online gambling numbers in New Jersey has led Jeffrey Haas, director of poker for bwin.party, to a simple conclusion.
Everything about Party Poker’s customer interface in the state has to improve.
“We need to do a better job in every area,” Haas told Bluff magazine. “We need to be better at everything. Every step needs to improve.”
Haas gave the magazine a wide-ranging interview, but his comments on the New Jersey market show bwin.party—which operates online in the state through a partnership with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa—expected the market to be three to four times what it is.
New Jersey’s online revenue has settled in at about $10 million a month.
Haas said problems with payment processing have hurt the rollout of online gambling—which began in November 2013—and also that illegal offshore sites continue to sap the market.
But he said PartyPoker also has to work to improve its overall “customer experience management.” That means everything from the signup process, the site’s software, marketing efforts and customer service, he said.
Haas told the magazine that improvements are planned in New Jersey, beginning with the site’s software, which will see more non-hold ‘em games added, as well as enhanced mobile capabilities, including the addition of MTT’s by January.
The company also wants to improve marketing and offer more special tournament events in conjunction with bwin.party’s World Poker Tour.
PartyPoker will host another Garden State Super Series online tournament series in January—which will run alongside the live Borgata Winter Poker Open at the Borgata—and there will also be promotions with MGM Resorts International, which was recently relicensed in New Jersey. The company is partnered with Boyd Gaming at the Borgata.
“Now that MGM is licensed in New Jersey we feel more comfortable to offer satellites in New Jersey to World Poker Tour tournaments in Las Vegas,” Haas told Bluff, specifically mentioning the WPT Five Diamonds Poker Classic and the WPT500 at the Aria.
Haas also said online companies in the state have to do a better job of educating the state’s population on how online gambling works and that it is safe and legal.
Despite the lower than expected revenue, Haas said New Jersey’s foray into online gambling is still a success.
“It’s been a phenomenal success form a regulatory point of view,” Haas said. “Despite what the demagogues are saying, there is not a single documented case of someone playing from outside New Jersey or a single case of underage play.”
He also pointed to the number of jobs the company has created in the state.
One thing about the New Jersey market, however, may soon change in a big way. PokerStars is expected to be licensed soon in the state and launch its own site through its partnership with Resorts casino in Atlantic City.
Haas sees this as a mixed blessing. PokerStars will be a tough competitor, but could also significantly improve the fledgling industry’s public awareness, he said.
“God bless PokerStars’ marketing budget,” Haas said.
Haas also said PokerStars will benefit from sites like Party Poker, which have been working out the technical glitches that hampered play early on.
“We got these systems up and running,” Haas said, “and now it’s a much smoother process.”
