A full month of Pennsylvania being part of the country’s shared liquidity pool, online poker saw a significant boost in the country’s major legalized states in May.
Pennsylvania also recorded the state’s first $600 million month from all forms of gaming, with online casino revenue surging to contribute to that.
Here’s a breakdown of total online gambling revenue for May from the country’s three largest legalized markets.
Pennsylvania
Gamblers in the Keystone State were busy in May, producing $601.8 million from all forms of gaming, an increase of 15.52% from last May, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. That’s the state’s first $600 million month.
Online gaming accounted for $232.9 million of that – a surge of 33.8% from $174.1 million in May 2024. Here’s a look at what that number looks like by category:
- Online slots – $177.2 million, an increase of 39.6%
- Online table games – $52.9 million, an increase of 17.8%
- Online poker – $2.8 million, an increase of 20.9%
May marked the first full month since Pennsylvania joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, sharing liquidity with New Jersey, Michigan, Nevada, and Delaware. That appeared to juice the numbers and it will be interesting to see what June will look like with the World Series of Poker underway and 30 online bracelets up for grabs.
Sports wagering handle reached $655.4 million, 10.7% above the May 2024 total. That produced state revenue of $59.4 million, rising 34.4%.
New Jersey
The trend of online gaming topping live casino revenue continued in May. That’s been the case for the industry every day this month. However, the state’s nine casinos saw solid revenue growth of 10.9% to $265.3 million, up from $239.1 million in May 2024. Year-to-date revenue has reached $1.12 billion, an increase of 0.8%.
Online gaming produced $246.8 million, up 28.5% from $192.1 million last May. Year to date, online gaming accounts for $1.16 billion, rising 22.5% compared to $942.8 million for the same period in 2024.
As seen in Pennsylvania, online poker saw a nice jump in May, rising 22.8% to $2.7 million from $2.2 million for the same month in 2024.
May sports betting stood at $102.5 million, an increase of 30.2% compared to $78.8 million in 2024. Year-to-date sports gross revenue was $460.2 million through May 2025, a decrease of 10.3% compared to $513 million for the same months in 2024.
Total revenue from all forms of gaming was $614.7 million for May, a jump of 20.5%. The year-to-date total is now at $2.74 billion, growth of 6.6%.
Michigan
Michigan’s online gaming operators reported $301.43 million for online gaming and sports betting in May, a 3.7% increase compared to April according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Online casino accounted for $251.47 million, up from $248.1 million in April, while sports betting reached $50 million, up from $42.6 million the previous month.
Michigan includes poker with overall online casino revenue, but it’s a good bet the state saw a similar increase as seen in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Combined adjusted gross receipts (AGR) for iGaming and sports betting reached $271.8 million. Of that total, $236.2 million (up 1.3%) came from iGaming and $35.6 million from sports (up 32.9%). Year-over-year iGaming AGR rose 32.2% while sports betting increased 26.6%.
Total online sports betting handle was $386.1 million in May, a 7.6% decrease from $417.6 million in April. Online gaming equated to $51.1 million in state taxes in May, with tribal operators reporting $5.8 million in payments to their governing bodies.
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