Is another online poker boom coming?
Most parts of the world are currently experiencing a second wave of the pandemic, following the surge in the COVID-19 cases. And with these cases spiking globally, online poker may experience another surge in traffic before the year 2020 closes.
According to GameIntel data, online poker in Europe experienced a surge in the past two weeks. The European market (including Spain, France, and Portugal) increased by almost 30 percent. At the same time, the Italian market grew by 18 percent.
In Europe, the online poker market experienced the same level of increase during the first wave of the lockdown between February and March.
At the moment, there is a steady rise in COVID-19 cases in many countries in Europe, such as Germany, Italy, and France. Most countries in Europe have imposed strict lockdown orders. Due to these lockdown orders, online poker is surging once more.
Online poker is likely to skyrocket in the coming weeks
Based on the statistics by GameIntel, the global dot-com game traffic is, at the moment, averaging 15,601 seats on the 7-day moving average.
The surge is a usual trend that starts from November onwards, but with the lockdown this year, we may see double that growth this time around in the coming weeks.
When the lockdown started this year, the traffic in online poker increased, but we may not see the same performance level as we saw back then in the next few weeks. Many players’ bankrolls have decreased, and many countries are ensuring that they don’t go into lockdown anymore. But even at that, a big traffic surge is likely in the next few months.
Presently, annual figures for the international dot-com market have increased by more than 30 percent. Even though GGPoker stimulated much of this growth, other poker operators also experienced a significant increase. The year-over-year growth for PokerStars is about 7 percent, GGPoker (208 percent), PartyPoker (30 percent), 888poker (2 percent), and Unibet (11 percent).
The US online poker market may also experience a big boom early next year
It is essential to know that the United States online poker market is also experiencing a big boom. Year-over-year, the All American Poker Network is up at almost 50 percent. PokerStars New Jersey is also experiencing a similar trajectory, and PartyPoker (presently restricted to just partypoker NJ) experienced more than double.
At the moment, cash game traffic is experiencing a dip in traffic.
With the expectations that Michigan’s online poker market may go live before the year closes, the US may experience a poker boom early next year. Additionally, the Wire Act case amendment, which reduced shared liquidity in the online poker market, could also fuel another poker boom in the country.
The new president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, could resolve the issue of shared liquidity. He would likely ask the Department of Justice to abandon reinterpreting the Wire Act. A positive resolution would also ensure Pennsylvania can join the MultiState Internet Gaming Agreement, allowing its players to compete with other states with legal, regulated online poker.
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