Despite a back-to-back decline in online poker revenue, June has remained much stronger than the first three months of 2020.
Pennsylvania Holds Good Poker Results in April
Some have predicted a dip in revenue and results, but online poker in Pennsylvania is still doing very well with June’s revenue reaching $3.2 million. In May, though, PokerStars, the Keystone’s uncontested poker behemoth, collected $4.6 million in revenue. The latest results were released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board late last week and reveal a still vibrant overall poker ecosystem in the state.
While the last two months saw dips in total revenue, the first half of the year looked strong, with Pennsylvania generated $20.2 million. PokerStars PA has been the sole operator in the state so far, peaking in both revenue and player base in April.
Despite the reopening plan of Gov. Tom Wolf, though, online poker operations have remained strong, suggesting that some players may have decided to stick around a little while longer. Despite the decline, June’s results were much better than January and February, when poker revenue barely scratched $2 million.
Meanwhile, results have been booming in New Jersey, even though June is usually the slowest month for online poker. However, WSOP.com has been able to pool together players from Nevada, Delaware and the Garden State, creating a new and vibrant community and online poker ecosystem.
What about the Number of Players?
A far more important question is how many played in PokerStars during the month. The record was set in April when the peak hit 992 concurrent players, but conversely, traffic on PokerStars PA slumped on June 26, at least according to the Poker Industry PRO Data platform, which has been providing accurate and insightful information about the poker market in the United States.
The current traffic, Poker Industry Pro argues, is still above average for PokerStars PA, which is good news for now. Yet, to build momentum, poker rooms may need to completely change tack. Some states, such as New Jersey are more populous, allowing them to bolster a slightly better overall number of players.
However, comparing the two states’ revenue head-to-head, Pennsylvania surpassed New Jersey in terms of revenue in both April and May but fell behind the Garden State in June. Overall, New Jersey posted 20.5 million for the first six months of the year whereas Pennsylvania reported $20.2 million.
PokerStars isn’t going to be the only operator to run in the Keystone market, though. Partypoker is expected to launch as well and so is WSOP.com, still awaiting approval for its partner 888 platform from the PGCB.
Partypoker is expected to launch once ROAR, the joint-venture between GVC and MGM, has been cleared by the PGCB, which is expected to happen on Wednesday, August 5, citing the board’s chief enforcement counsel, Cyrus Pitre.
