The best rewards for a New Jersey online gambler may be tickets to a show at a land-based casino.
A survey conducted by Commercial Intelligence has found that the most effective incentives for players at New Jersey online gambling sites are tied to rewards at land-based casinos. This sets New Jersey apart from other international markets, where cash rewards are seen as the most effective.
Analysts argue that the findings could be a boon for the state, which has partnered all of its sites with land-based Atlantic City casinos. The “softer” costs of hotel rooms and comps could be a windfall for the sites.
The report comes after some of New Jersey’s online poker sites have been revamping their player rewards systems, effectively cutting their “rakeback” to players.
Rakeback is a term describing rewards programs where sites return to players some of the rake—or fees to the site players incur while playing—through bonuses attached to the amount they play..
Both 888poker and WSOP.com have recently revamped their rewards programs to significantly cut their offered rakeback. At WSOP.com, the rakeback has effectively been halved.
WSOP.com officials, however, say the cuts come only to structured rewards levels and the site offers more general promotions and bonuses than other sites in the state.
Still, such moves cause controversy among players and may be part of the reason New Jersey’s online traffic in its poker rooms continues to fall.
The most recent statistics say New Jersey’s cash games average about 325 players at any given time.
