888 Heralds New Era for its Online Poker Product as Revenue Jumps Almost 50% 888 Heralds New Era for its Online Poker Product as Revenue Jumps Almost 50%
Key Takeaways
  • It is one of the best annual growth rates in poker reported in its 15-year financial history.
  • “We saw a temporary jump during April and May, which was stabilized in June before seeing structural improvement in the second half.”
  • While poker made up just 7.7% of the group’s B2C revenue last year, it received outsized attention in last week’s investors’ call.
  • Six months ago, it deployed the new mobile client upgrade, a huge step up for the operator.
  • “This showcases the fresh and modern approach that we brought to the world of online poker.”

Online poker revenue at 888 Holdings jumped 47.8% in 2020, the operator revealed in its full year financial report last year. It is one of the best annual growth rates in poker reported in its 15-year financial history.

At $63.1 million, it is also the best performance in three years, and ends a five-year streak of declining revenue in the competitive vertical.

“Poker is a great product for us,” said Yariv Dafna, group CFO, on presenting the financial results last week. “We saw a temporary jump during April and May, which was stabilized in June before seeing structural improvement in the second half in which we benefited from the Poker 8 launch and the associated marketing campaigns.”

While poker made up just 7.7% of the group’s B2C revenue last year, it received outsized attention in last week’s investors’ call. Indeed, its strong performance was one of the main highlights in its full year presentation, which boasted of strong performance across the board.

Along with the new software and mobile apps, poker’s growth was because of “the social entertainment value offered by poker during lockdown periods, 888’s efficient marketing, and in the latter part of the year, a strong reaction to 888’s new poker product,” the group stated in its full year presentation.