Some Revealing iPoker Data Trends Of 2015

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Thursday, January 7th, 2016 | Written by Stephen Smith

With 2015 having drawn to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the year. As data from the online poker industry is analyzed, it becomes clear that changes in business models among operators did not do much to improve the performance of companies as a whole, as 2015 was another rough year for online poker sites. Here are some of the trends that emerged during 2015:

1. The Effects of the PokerStars VIP Cuts

On November 1, PokerStars announced sweeping changes to its VIP Club program that ultimately reduced the incentive for the site’s legion of online grinders to take to the its virtual tables. In response, professional players organized a boycott, hoping to deliver a crushing blow to the provider, and from December 1st to December 3rd almost 3,000 players joined the boycott. In retrospect, however, it only seemed to impact high stakes play, and PokerStars still enjoyed plenty of traffic due to its Christmas Calendar promotion with random giveaways and rewards that were based on consistent play. As a result, the promotion boosted the site’s liquidity by 14 percent during the last month of the year.

By channeling millions of dollars saved from its VIP rewards program towards recreational players promotions, PokerStars was ultimately able to offset any potential damage inflicted by its disgruntled online grinders. This new type model is fundamental for the site’s long term growth goals, and as VP of Corporate Communications Eric Hollreiser said following the player strike:

“During the three-day boycott we recorded the healthiest consecutive three-day ecosystem results of the year with steady net gaming revenue, even though our net-depositing players lost at a much lower rate than they have all year.”

2. Winamax Won with Bingo

French operator Winamax.fr managed to attract players by introducing some new fun cash games in 2015. The most popular of these, Cash Game Bingo, arrived in July and randomly awarded prizes based on the cards that players were dealt. Within one week, the site’s liquidity had increased by 66 percent, and Winamax.fr managed to retain much of this traffic. By the end of 2015, liquidity at the site was still up 36 percent over the levels seen before Cash Game Bingo was introduced. The game ingeniously keeps players at the tables, but has only cost the provider about $63,000 to provide. Having been a pioneer of the lottery type sit & go games, Winamax has now further established its reputation as one of online poker’s chief innovators, whilst providing an example for other iPoker operators to emulate.

3. Offshore Sites Had a Great Year

Offshore sites that target US players grew over 2015. Bovada‘s liquidity jumped by 24 percent over the course of the year, while WPN and Chico Network also saw big lifts in liquidity. The latter saw an increase in cash game volume of 128 percent with Chico Network now aiming to become amongst the top five offshore U.S. facing sites. Many industry experts credit Twitch for the success of these offshore operators, as players who are discovering online poker for the first time by watching streaming game play are now looking for places where they can take to the tables. Hopefully, the rise in popularity of offshore sites might act as an incentive for US states to adopt regulation of their own, or else face the prospect of their residents’ money ending up in the pockets of these untaxed iGambling businesses.

4. Online Cash Poker Is Down

Although there were some successes in the industry, 2015 was overall a bad year for online cash games. By mid December, revenue was down by 12.2 percent year-over-year. While that wasn’t as dramatic a decline as 2014’s 14.7 percent drop, the data shows that online cash games are caught in the midst of a slump that has now spanned 3 years; the last time the industry grew was in 2012, when the industry finished 9.7 percent higher. Interestingly, the hugely popular Spin & Go games PokerStars introduced in September 2014 is thought to account for roughly 40 percent the contraction in cash game business noted in 2015. Now that the initial impact has settled, analysts will now keenly be awaiting to see how this affects cash game business in 2016.

Conclusion

What remains to be seen is what impact the changes made to online poker will have through 2016 and if the possibility of online poker expansion into Pennsylvania will boost profits for operators.