After a record-setting April, PokerStars PA has posted slightly lower results in May, but still an impressive number. The number of concurrent poker players reached 993 people on April 23.
Online Poker Remains Strong in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s online poker results have continued to impress. Even though casinos in the Keystone State have reopened, albeit, at reduced capacity, the interest for online poker has been unflagging. PokerStars PA collected $4.6 million in rake and tournament fees, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in its most recent update covering May’s numbers.
More specifically, PokerStars PA has turned the highest result of poker revenue generated in any of the legal markets to date. The revenue in April amounted to nearly $5.3 million, the most any single operator in the U.S. has ever reported. The reason behind this is easy enough to understand, with PokerStars PA still the only active legal operator in the Keystone State.
While Pennsylvania is yet to welcome 888poker and WSOP, PokerStars PA may have a few more good months ahead, though. Looking at results across different jurisdictions, the card room has done very well. The lowest PokerStars reported since it has been operating in the US, was in December 2013 when revenue was mere $2,884,917.
Conversely, April and May 2020 saw $5,253,304 and $4,596,418 respectively. Sure, May’s saw a slight dip compared to April, but that’s because brick-and-mortar casinos restarted and mostly because the initial strict measures have been lifted.
Tournaments Boost Poker numbers in the State
There have been some tournaments, too, with PokerStars PA wrapping up PASCOOP and Pennsyl-MANIA. In terms of players, on April 23, PokerStars registered 992 concurrent players for the Keystone State domain, the highest to date. Starting yesterday, Thursday, PokerStars PA is also running the Summer Series in Pennsylvania.
The event is a 38-tournament series with a $750,000 guaranteed prize pool and a $150,000 guaranteed Main Event. The Summer Series will wrap up on June 28.
PokerStars PA has enjoyed a cozy market free of competitors so far. However, WSOP.com is preparing to launch its own card room in the state, offering fresh competition and hopefully bringing more players onboard.
WSOP Still Awaited on the Market
WSOP will also offer shared-liquidity between players in New Jersey and Nevada and, once the card room arrives in Pennsylvania, the Keystone State as well. Based on rumors so far, the Control Board is currently in the process of testing 888poker, the selected poker partner for WSOP.com, and is pending a final decision on when the platform can launch.
