Golden Nugget Could Break Online Gambling History

Written by: Webster Lupton, Casino, Gambling, and Sports Journalist
4 minute read

Golden Nugget Atlantic CityGolden Nugget’s online operations have made huge progress since the early days of legal online gambling in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The casinos land-based and online gambling revenue numbers have been flirting among each other since early this year.

With a growing tendency on the online gambling numbers, many experts predict that there is history in the making for this crucial segment of the US gambling industry.

News Highlights

  • Golden Nugget’s land-based and online revenues are evening out.
  • The casino’s online operations have been experiencing a steady, yet constant growth.
  • Sports betting as a proven factor contributing to growth and development.

What Are the Exact Revenue Numbers?

Golden Nugget Online Gaming RevenueSince last May 2018, the difference between land-based casino slots and table games revenue, and that from online activities has been reduced drastically. Just then, table games and slots had a strong lead of slightly over $11,000,000 in comparison to the $8,600,364 in online gambling wins.

Now, a year from then, the official report for June is underway, while the May numbers are promising enough. In fact, numbers since March have been indicating the proximity most evidently.

  • At the end of March, land-based revenue was only $3.4 million more than the record-high $14.23 million in online gambling revenue.
  • April numbers saw a slight decrease in the online gambling profits by $13.85 million. The difference between casino slots and table games decreased even more drastically – less than $1.6 million.
  • The latest stats from May revenues show a $3 million difference, but with the online gambling profit coming second after the March record, things are definitely looking for the better.

Land-Based vs. Online Gambling Casino Win

The Golden Nugget has been known to rank among the top casinos of the New Jersey gambling market. This continued on even more strongly five years ago when online gambling was officially legalized in the state. One key fact that has led the casino towards greater success is their tendency to focus on their local marketplace, instead of looking to cover several at the same time.

The Senior Vice President, as well as General Manager of online gaming for the casino, Thomas Winter, has some thoughts on the whole matter:


As a trend, the growth is mostly online. The good news is that it’s not really cannibalizing land-based revenue.

Thomas Winter

With this line of thought, Chris Grove, managing director at the online gambling research company Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, additionally claimed that:


If you look at Atlantic City, there isn’t a clear indication that this online gambling revenue is coming at the expense of retail revenue. If anything, it seems to be almost wholly additive to retail revenue.

Chris Grove

How Does This Affect Land-Based Operations?

This is more good news for the Golden Nugget casino since each business is predominantly looking to prosper in every aspect of its operations. Due to different demographics when it comes to the land-based and online player pool, as well as the casino’s tactical approach to servicing the online gambling industry, the two complement each other instead of taking away from one another.

Moreover, the Golden Nugget is known to continuously work on improving and enriching their online gambling offering. They take risks and include games from industry leading providers, ultimately benefiting once they turn into a major success. The Starburst slot from NetEnt is a good example of one of their most popular titles. With their pioneering move of being the first operator to add live dealer games to the library, the success is that much more justified.

More Boosts to the Success Story

Ever since sports betting became legal, it has additionally boosted the online gambling industry. After all, it has been estimated that about 80% of all bets are made online or via a mobile device.


Sports bettors were not seeing themselves as casino players, but most of the online gaming growth is coming from sports betting players who sign up to bet on sports and then will start playing a bit of roulette, blackjack or online slots.

Thomas Winter

Golden Nugget additionally profits from the remaining skins operating under its casino license:

  • playsugarhouse.com
  • nj.betamerica.com
  • betfaircasino.com

Hard work at each segment has definitely paid off, with overall success rates coming from all sides. The General Manager of online gambling and Senior Vice President, Winter, on the question about the future:


Online gaming is a proven industry globally, and I think it’s taken some time for many US companies to get comfortable with the new industry. We believed the market was always there, but you had to offer a better product and user experience and educate people about online gaming. I believe this (growth) will continue.

Thomas Winter


Webster Lupton

Webster Lupton Casino, Gambling, and Sports Journalist

Webster Lupton is a journalist and expert sports and casino writer with over 30 years of experience. Webster is a seasoned researcher and a published author. He also enjoys the outdoors and birdwatching.

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