One of the most successful online poker markets in the US today can be found in Pennsylvania. The industry has only been live for a little over a year now, but the time has shown just how much of a demand there is for online poker in the region. Reports have been provided by the Gaming Control Board, revealing an increase in earnings year over year as well as for the month of February.
Details of the Reports
In February, the state saw growth of more than 37% when compared to the same month in 2020. It is important to note that February 2020 was right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The pandemic has been ongoing for a year now and online gaming has increased immensely in that time frame. Players feel comfortable playing online poker at home due to not having to travel among other people who could be potential carriers of the virus.
Last month, the total online poker revenue came in at $2.5 million. This is a big month for the brand, larger than many of the previous monthly totals. When online poker started in the state, November 2019, just under $2 million was generated. Earnings dwindled until March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, when over $3 million was earned.
April was a record month with over $5 million earnings followed by May with more than $4 million. The online poker market then started to level out and stay around the $2.5 million to $3 million range each month.
If you look at the first four months of the market’s operations, revenues came in at just over $8 million. The recent past four months pushed the overall revenue total to over $10 million. This is a solid increase and shows how popular the market has become since the pandemic began.
Only One Operator
It is important to note that Pennsylvania currently has only one operator. PokerStars is the only provider of iPoker gaming in the state. This is pretty impressive considering there is no competition, and the market continues to thrive.
It certainly helps PokerStars, as the company gets to take home all the profits. Last year, the brand earned close to $19 million. This is much more than the $12.6 million earned in New Jersey. Of course, PokerStars has plenty of competition in the Garden State, with other operators offering services, like partypoker, 888, WSOP, etc.
It is expected that these other operators will eventually launch in Pennsylvania, but when is anyone’s guess. The WSOP and its partner 888poker have announced they plan to offer services within the first half of this year.
The partypoker US network is also looking at offering services in the Keystone State. This operator brings with it the partypoker brand, Borgata, and BetMGM. If any of these operators get started in the state, it would create genuine competition for PokerStars. Would the market grow or would it stay the same, with others taking a cut of PokerStars huge profits?
