DraftKings To Close Live Dealer Studio At Golden Nugget, Let Go 101 Employees

DraftKings will be shuttering its Atlantic City live dealer studio inside of the Golden Nugget and laying off the 101 employees who work there, according to a report on NEXT.io.

The news of the layoffs, which will be effective Jan. 31, 2025, was first posted in a New Jersey WARN Act Notice, where employers are required to notify employees of large layoffs at least 60 days prior to the event.

While the notice doesn’t indicate whom the layoffs are affecting, NEXT.io acquired information detailing the news of the layoffs and the shuttering of the live dealer casino. The site says the information was shared with the employees this Monday by senior executives of DraftKings.

The studio is in the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, and was relaunched after DraftKings purchased Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) for $1.56 billion in stock.

“As we finalize our GNOG integration, effective January 31, 2025, DraftKings will transition its in-house Live Dealer operations to third-party studios in Atlantic City,” a DraftKings spokesperson told NEXT.io. “We are supporting impacted employees to offer a smooth transition for as many as possible. Our live dealer offerings will remain uninterrupted.”

First to open

Golden Nugget was the first casino to open a live dealer studio in the United States, in 2016 at the site DraftKings is now closing.

Golden Nugget partnered with Evolution subsidiary Ezugi to open the studio.

“Online live dealer creates true convergence between the casino floor at Golden Nugget Atlantic City and our online casino, which will appeal to the more traditional casino players who have yet to enjoy online real-money gaming,” then Golden Nugget VP of online gaming Thomas Winter said at the time.

The studio was expanded in 2021, nearly doubling the amount of tables.

With live dealer gaming, customers playing online are able to interact with actual dealers, who are using physical playing cards, roulette wheels, etc., via streaming video within the online casino app. The format offers an alternative to purely digital gaming, and some gamblers believe live dealer games to be more trustworthy, while others seek out live dealer for the social interaction.

Blackjack and roulette are by far the two most popular live dealer games, though some studios offer other table games as well as “game show” style options.

DraftKings opened its own live studio in 2019 inside the Hard Rock Casino Atlantic City, in partnership with Evolution.