Nevada Online Poker Revenues Rise 12% In March

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Thursday, May 1st, 2014 | Written by Charles Washington

Almost one year after launching its first online poker operation, Nevada‘s nascent industry is showing signs of improvement and in March reported $926,000 in revenues, up by 12.2% compared to the previous month. The Silver State’s land-based casino industry is also showing promising growth and in March generated 7.6% more revenues at $982 million, the biggest tally so far this year.

Nevada’s Approaches One Year Online Poker Anniversary

At the beginning of April 2013 Ultimatepoker.com became the first regulated online poker site to launch in Nevada, and indeed the USA as a whole. Since then WSOP.com and Real Gaming have joined the state’s online poker market and according to The Nevada State Gaming Control Board together generated $926,000 in revenues last month, up from the $824,000 collected in February.

Overall, for the first 11 months of operations total revenues have now reached close to $10 million, representing a big boom to Nevada’s economy according to NSGC Board Chairman A.G. Burnett.

Despite the good news, however, a quick glance at the latest ‘Online Poker Traffic Report’ paints a slightly less spectacular picture of Nevada’s online poker industry. According to PokerScout, WSOP.com is currently showing an average of 90 cash game players over a seven day period, followed by Ultimatepoker.com with 60 players, and Real Gaming which only launched at the end of March, showing no players at all. Interestingly, when Ultimate Poker was the sole internet poker room between May and September 2013, it regularly boasted up to 220 cash game players at any one time.

Nevada–Delaware compact could help keep online Poker viable

If all goes according to plan a landmark agreement signed earlier this year between Nevada and Delaware could combine the two states’ online poker pools as early as this summer. In the absence of a federal online gambling bill, interstate compacts are in reality the main way in which smaller states can maintain an economically viable industry, and as the Interactive Gaming Council explains, sufficient liquidity is essential in order to have “enough players online to create an experience that retains customers and profitability.”

While the Nevada–Delaware compact will have only a negligible impact on revenues in the short term, such agreements could very well play an important part in encouraging other undecided states to join the online poker bandwagon in the medium term and keep igaming sustainable going forward.

Furthermore, a Gambling Compliance report released earlier this year forecast a number of states could move to authorize Internet gambling in 2014, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. Interestingly, just California alone with its population of 40 million people would be sufficient to sustain a successful gambling network without ever having to open up its borders.

Online poker no threat to land casinos

Unlike the other regulated markets of New Jersey and Delaware, Nevada offers just online poker and no casino games. Some believe Nevada may have missed a trick as casino games account for around two-thirds of overall revenues in the other two states.

However, pre-regulation The Silver State was keen to protect its brick-and-mortar casinos and according to Burnett online poker has actually helped introduced a new slew of gamblers to its land-based venues. As he explains: “I think it’s going to be an enhancing-type of activity where more players who are interested in interactive poker are actually brought to the strip and northern Nevada to play land-based poker tournaments.”

Nevada casinos won $982m In March

All told, Nevada casinos generated $982 million in March with its 7.6% growth rate year-on-year helping to end two-month of sliding gambling revenues. The state subsequently collected 7.39% more in tax revenues at $84.1 million, and for the first 10 months of fiscal 2014, gaming tax collections are currently up nearly 1% compared to the same period in 2013.

Breaking March’s results down further, the Las Vegas Strip generated 10.9% revenues at $560.7 million, with baccarat revenues up 39.9% to $101.8 million year-over-year, blackjack up 6.1% to $105.9 million, craps up 36% to $42.1 million, and slots up by 3.8%.

The Strip’s gambling revenues were helped along by a number of special events and conventions held in March although, as Union Gaming Group analyst Robert Shore pointed out, historically March has been one of the strongest months for the Las Vegas Strip. Shore also drew attention to The Strip’s slot machine volume, explaining that “younger, increasingly international, more affluent” visitors have been spending the majority of their money on restaurants and nightlife attractions, and not generally on slot machines.