60 Sponsored by Casino City’s iGaming Pocket Directory Poker Poker POKER INDUSTRY OVERVIEW reveals mixed results from around the globe. In the U.S., New Jersey’s online poker revenue was $1.6 million in October 2019 per the Division of Gaming Enforcement. This is a 0.8% annual decrease and marked the third straight month of lower revenue since July’s conclusion of the World Series of Poker. But hope springs eternal as the legal environment shifts. New Jersey illustrates the importance of shared liquidity player pools, as the WSOP/888 site has seen increased growth in every month since the Multistate Internet Gaming Agreement (MIGA) was signed. This allows players in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey to play with each other. Meanwhile, other providers that only operate in single states have seen declining numbers. Pennsylvania launched online poker in November 2019 and may sign on the agreement, which should boost revenues given it offers the biggest population of those four states. West Virginia also has legalized online poker, but it’s not yet live and is expected to launch in 2020. Further encouragement comes from France, where online poker in Q3 2019 rose to 65.9 million, up 11.1% year over year, per French regulator, ARJEL. This comes as poker’s share of the gambling market, which includes sports and horse betting but not casino games, fell from 21.8% to 19.1% compared to 2018. Spain’s Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling reported a GGR of €81.8 million in online poker, representing an increase of 37.05% year over year while accounting for 11.7% of Spain’s online gambling action. It seems the 2017 agreement where France, Italy, Portugal and Spain shared their player pools is paying off. Excerpts from the Spring 2019 report by Poker Industry Pro shed light on revenues for some of poker’s largest providers. The international arm of The Stars Group, which includes PokerStars, brought in $886.6 million. GVC and partypoker made an estimated €137 million in annual net gaming revenue after experiencing a 40% growth from 2017. Meanwhile, 888 Holdings saw its online poker shares fall 37% overall, going from $77.9 million to $49 million. While individual companies may rise and fall, the big picture looks encouraging for poker’s future. The industry appears to be steadily building up its chips in several key markets, though a swift double-up in size appears unlikely in the short term.
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