The release of a slot game is often an exciting event. The launch of ‘Rakin’ Bacon Odyssey’ is no exception to the rule.
It was in New Jersey where Caesars Entertainment and PlayAGS introduced this brand new slot game. It’s an important launch as this is the first cross-platform launch seen in the state of New Jersey.
The launch was held at the famous Caesars Atlantic City and the game can be played both online and in-person.
One of the representatives in attendance for Caesars was Francine Maric, best known as Lady Lucky HQ. With her speciality being in gaming, recent years have seen her create a fair amount of content on this subject on social media platforms and made a good amount of money in doing so as an influencer.
The Digital SVP and Chief iGaming Officer of Caesars Digital is Matthew Sunderland. He said that the “simultaneous launch” of this new slot game online and at Atlantic City destinations is “an example of the exciting omnichannel experience” that they can bring to their players.
The slot has already proved popular online and Mr Sunderland is “confident” that those visiting the land-based casinos in New Jersey “will enjoy” playing it.
When the top online casinos launch slot games they hope that it will see characters and themes created that can be used for future releases.’Rakin’ Bacon Odyssey’ is a good example of this as it again uses the character ‘Cornsquealius.’
As you might guess from its name, this is a cartoon pig who loves to wear a Caesar-esque laurel and white robe. It’s probably best not to mention bacon too much as that can rather upset a pig, even a cartoon one.
This kind of launch shows the growing links between land-based casinos and online casino platforms. The SVP and GM of Caesars Atlantic City, Karen Worman, says that building this connections is something Caesars are “uniquely positioned to deliver to our customers.” The SVP and GM added that she hopes this will be the first of many such offerings for both the in-person and digital experience.
It’s been a busy time for Caesars Digital who recently formed a partnership with EveryMatrix. This means that their casino content will be seen across North America.
Despite rising inflation there seems to be no let-up in America’s love of gambling. Figures released by the American Gaming Association have shown that last year commercial casinos in the US won $66.5 billion from those who gamble with them.
That’s the best result ever and 10% higher than 2022 when a record was also set. The revenue figures will be even higher when the results from tribal-owned casinos are made public. That’ll be later in the year and the overall total is likely to be close to $110 billion.
Sports betting has also become hugely popular in the US. In New Jersey, over $1 billion was earned in annual sports betting revenue. That was the first time the $1 billion barrier had been broken.
Internet gambling revenue in the state was $1.92 billion with New Jersey only just behind Michigan who had the highest revenue total.
In terms of the top gambling market in the US, Nevada ruled the roost with $15.5 billion revenue ahead of Pannsylvania ($5.86 billion) and Atlantic City in New Jersey on $5.77 billion.
Will the impressive results continue in 2024? Well, the answer appears to be very much yes if the results for January are anything to go by as igaming revenue had a record breaking month.
Total gambling revenue for New Jersey was $559.1 million and that’s 28% higher than in the first month of 2023. It’s also a figure that is 7.1% higher than the total record in the final month of 2023.
Most of the revenue came from land-based casinos in the state. Their revenue figure for January was $205 million, though that was a 3% fall when compared to January 2023. While playing slots remains hugely popular, the January figure for January ($143 million) was down 5.8% but table games played in land-based casinos saw a 3.7% rise with a revenue figure of $62.1 million.
It’s a rosier picture for online casinos with the revenue from igaming in New Jersey at $183.3 million. That was a monthly record and up 19.9% from the figure achieved in the same period last year.
It’s online slots that dominate the igaming revenue total. Spinning those reels accounted for $180.8 million out of $183.3 million. That was a rise of 20.4% from January 2023. Internet poker didn’t do so well going down 8.2% to $2.5 million.
Featured image credit: rawpixel.com / freepik
