Up to this point, it’s pretty safe to say that Nevada online poker hasn’t been going as analysts and casinos expected. But things aren’t as bad as expected after looking at the first set of data released by the state. Nevada’s three internet poker sites earned a collective $824,000 in February. After 10 months of offering online poker, the operation have pulled in $8.52 million overall.
The reason why we’re suddenly getting numbers in after 10 months is because Nevada waited until a third operator entered the market, behind WSOP.com and Ultimate Poker. This finally happened on February 19th, when Real Gaming went live.
Nevada Gaming Control’s report on online poker revenue doesn’t offer a breakdown on individual sites. So using PokerScout.com’s traffic figures is pretty much the best way of estimating each poker site’s revenue. Here’s a look at some rough numbers using PokerScout traffic data from the end of March:
- WSOP.com – Average hourly cash game traffic (7-day rolling average) is 100 players, which gives them 58.8% of the market, or $484,706 in February.
- Ultimate Poker – Average hourly cash game traffic is 70 players, which gives them 41.2% of the market, or $339,488 in February.
- Real Gaming – They’ve failed to generate any noteworthy traffic so far.
There are only two months’ worth of data to be collected before the Nevada online poker market have reached its first complete year. As mentioned before, the numbers are far below what was initially forecast. Eilers Research gaming analyst Adam Krejcik predicted the market could produce $45 million a year, adding that it “could exceed $100 million” if internet casino games were approved.
Assuming things continue at the same pace, with the market averaging $852k per month, Nevada would finish out the year with $10.2 million in revenue. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that this poker operation have outperformed speculated numbers before verifiable data was released. Many analysts thought that Nevada poker sites were only generating between $200k and $500k a month. The $852k per-month average definitely exceeds this amount.
With three more operators in 888, American Casino & Entertainment Properties and Party Poker looking to enter the fray, perhaps Nevada will start earning even more from online poker each month.