Future Prospects For the iPoker Industry

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Saturday, November 26th, 2016 | Written by Stephen Smith

Poker has been played in casinos across the United States ever since they first opened their doors, but the game has had a complicated past. By the 1990s and 2000s, most casinos had only a few tables, and in Nevada the number of poker tables fell from 586 in 1994 to just 383 in 2003.

Then suddenly, Chris Moneymaker caught the attention of the world after the amateur player won the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event for $2.5 million having first qualified for the $10,000 entry tournament via an $86 satellite at PokerStars. The newly developed under the table camera technology ensured millions of people got to enjoy his incredible victory on ESPN, whilst also helping to create a huge excitement of the game. That year the ‘poker boom’ subsequently ensued.

People were flocking to the casinos to take to their poker tables, and for the first time in decades, casinos started adding more space for poker on their gaming floors. The surging interest in online gaming quickly caused online poker sites to spring up, encouraging a whole new market in the gaming industry, and although everything came to a grinding halt first with the UIGEA of 2006, and then Black Friday in 2011, online poker still remains alive and well. But what’s ahead for the game’s future?

Limited Player Pools

It’s clear that the online poker boom has come to an end. There are fewer people playing today than there were back in the game’s heyday, but more countries and states in the U.S. are considering iGaming legislation with three having already adopted legalized online poker, namely Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey.

One would think that increased legalization would be creating a healthy market, but there is one big barrier to that–fragmentation. Each country and state in the U.S. is largely isolated with its own set of laws and regulations. As a result, players are kept largely separate, and so most areas do not have a large enough player population to support high liquidity on multiple gaming sites. Even when states pool players, for example like the interstate pooling compact between Nevada and Delaware, sites just can’t sustain a large number of games at once, which limits the ability of online casinos to make the game fun for players, and profitable for themselves.

The Future

If online poker has any hopes of having a major resurgence, governments are going to have to enter into agreements to pool players across state and international borders. There is already interest both in the U.S. and abroad for setting up these types of relationships; however, differences in laws are creating a barrier to their swift implementation. Still, we can expect more pooling agreements and the consolidation of small poker sites into larger networks in the coming years as efforts to increase liquidity, improve player experience and hopefully boost revenues gain momentum.

Recreational Players Key

Another trend that is only likely to continue in the coming years is a stronger focus on recreational players. More and more sites are offering lottery-style games that require less skill, and are doing away with rewards systems that emphasize quantity of play. There is a genuine interest in creating an environment where players of all skill levels can enjoy the game rather than having to grind their way through numerous games simultaneously in order to try and bring in revenues through reward programs and kickback.

Continuing Appeal

While there is probably no hope of ever seeing another major poker boom of the size of the 2000s, no one should count online poker out. There is still plenty of interest in the game worldwide and the industry and regulators do seem focused on the right things to nurture that interest and provide an experience that will keep poker relevant through the next decade and beyond. Ending this article on a positive note, as poker reporter Chris Grove explains:

“On a broader cultural level, the popularity of poker seems to be somewhat cyclical. You could argue that the cycle is due to start swinging back around after a half-decade where poker has been relegated to something of an afterthought. That momentum combined with the apparent propensity for millennial gamblers to prefer games with a skill element could set the stage for a rekindling of interest in poker, although it’s likely to pale in comparison to what we saw in the mid-2000s.”