- From Chris Moneymaker joining ACR to GGPoker receiving a license in Pennsylvania, PRO lists out twelve unexpected stories.
Former PokerStars Ambassador and US Poker Icon Chris Moneymaker Signs with Americas Cardroom (February 2021)
Top line: “Chris Moneymaker, one of the most recognizable poker players in the United States, has signed with Americas Cardroom. He became a household name after he won the 2003 WSOP Main Event and $2.5 million first-place prize, triggering an explosion of interest in internet poker.”
Key takeaways:
- Americas Cardroom is a leading online poker room that serves the United States market via an offshore license.
- Moneymaker won his entry to the $10,000 buy-in Main Event in 2003 via an $86 satellite he played on PokerStars.
- After 17 years, Moneymaker opted to leave the company at the beginning of 2021.
- While Moneymaker is, by far, its most prominent signing, Americas Cardroom has a string of other pros on its roster, as well as a team of streamers.
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Approves GGPoker’s Parent Company for Interactive Gaming Manufacturer License (February 2021)
Top line: “In its recent board meeting, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) approved NSUS Group, the parent company of GGPoker, for an Interactive Gaming Manufacturer license in Pennsylvania.”
Key takeaways:
- The license allows the NSUS Group to bring its software technology to a regulated iGaming site.
- However, this does not mean that GGPoker’s launch in Pennsylvania is imminent.
For the First Time in Four Years, Resurgent Online Poker Network iPoker Overtakes Partypoker (March 2021)
Top line: “Online poker network iPoker has taken third place in the global dot-com cash game rankings, overtaking long-time rival partypoker, PRO can reveal.”
Key takeaways:
- Total revenue fell 25% for partypoker parent company Playtech, while profit fell a precipitous 80%, as covid-19 battered the retail sector of the company.
- While all operators saw gains in traffic during the first coronavirus boom, iPoker fared better than others.
- In 2020 iPoker enjoyed a string of successes — starting, of course, with the closure of rival MPN and the migration of most of its skins.
- Q1 2021 is set to be its best quarter in the last three years, exceeding even that of the covid-19-fueled mini-boom.
GGPoker Goes Toe-To-Toe with PokerStars with Huge Spring Festival (March 2021)
Top line: “The first major clash of the year in the global online poker industry is about to unfold. GGPoker has revealed its third major festival for 2021: GG Spring Festival and it comes with an earth-shattering $150 million in guarantees.”
Key takeaways:
- GGPoker has revealed its third major festival for 2021, GG Spring Festival, and it comes with a whopping $150 million in guarantees.
- It is scheduled to coincide wholly with PokerStars’ $100 million SCOOP festival, running from April 4 to 25.
- The series brings another milestone for GGPoker, who raised the bar even higher and will host its biggest series to date.
- The GG Spring Festival will include a total of 110 events, each of them split into three tiers — Low, Medium, and High — adopting the idea from PokerStars’ renowned SCOOP and WCOOP festivals for the first time.
WSOP Shakes Up TV Broadcast Partnership: ESPN Out, CBS Sports In (April 2021)
Top line: “The World Series of Poker announced it has ended its broadcast partnership with ESPN after almost twenty years and has signed a multi-year agreement with CBS Sports instead.”
Key takeaways:
- The World Series of Poker announced it has ended its broadcast partnership with ESPN after almost twenty years and has signed a multi-year agreement with CBS Sports instead.
- The new partnership will have CBS Sports broadcasting the WSOP 2021 Main Event and bracelet events that are slated to take place in Las Vegas this fall.
- CBS Sports is expected to showcase fifteen hours of Main Event coverage and 36 hours covering 18 gold bracelet events.
- The partnership between the WSOP and CBS Sports harks back to the mid-70’s when the pair first teamed up to give poker fans TV coverage of the WSOP Main Event.
GGPoker Overtakes Behemoth PokerStars to Become World’s Largest Online Poker Room (June 2021)
Top line: “GGPoker Network — which first debuted only a few short years ago — has overtaken behemoth PokerStars to become the world’s largest online poker room.”
Key takeaways:
- GGPoker Network — which became known to the world only a few years back — has overtaken behemoth PokerStars to become the world’s largest online poker room.
- The latest cash game figures — tracked by independent monitor GameIntel and available exclusively on PRO — show that GGPoker is averaging over 5000 concurrent cash game seats.
- Meanwhile, PokerStars’ cash game traffic has dipped below 5000 at 4981, allowing GGPoker to dethrone the 15-year-long crown holder for the world’s leading online poker room.
- The last time an operator with a focus on regulated markets was sitting atop the global online poker market, was back in the pre-UIGEA 2006 era.
More Operators Fall in Line as New Online Gambling Law in Germany Comes into Force (July 2021)
Top line: “The new online gambling law has come into effect in Germany as of Thursday. The online poker market, in particular, is heavily impacted by the new regulations, and more operators have responded to the new restrictions.”
Key takeaways:
- The new online gambling law has come into effect in Germany as of today.
- Unibet and PokerStars were the first to react and now more operators have joined the bandwagon.
- Among them are GGPoker, partypoker, Run It Once Poker, and the iPoker network, whereas 888poker has not published any adjustments yet.
- GGPoker has confirmed its commitment to full licensing in Germany.
- In order to continue to provide a player and market-friendly approach, partypoker has made the decision not to increase the fees on the majority of their offerings. However, like other operators, it has also ceased the high-stakes cash games.
- Other major operators including 888poker are also expected to announce their measures in the days to come.
For First Time in History, PokerStars’ International Division Makes More Money from Online Casino Than Poker (August 2021)
Top line: “For the first time in company history, the “international” division of Flutter — which is made up primarily of the non-US business of PokerStars — generated more revenue from online casino games than online poker, the company revealed in its H1 financial report this week.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars’ revenue in casino and poker makes up the lion’s share of the division.
- For the first time, casino is now its largest product vertical under the international umbrella.
- Overall, the international division in H1 was down 15% year-over-year, or -11% in constant currency.
- Casino will have grown from £290 million to £305 million (cc) in H1 2021, with poker falling from £437 million to £284 million.
- Meanwhile, casino has grown to 43% and sports betting takes a 17% share.
World Series of Poker Publishes Covid-19 Disqualification Rules (August 2021)
Top line: “The World Series of Poker has released its official set of tournament rules for the upcoming in-person festival in Las Vegas.”
Key takeaways:
- The World Series of Poker has released its official set of tournament rules for the upcoming in-person festival in Las Vegas.
- A lot of uncertainty remains surrounding whether or not the festival — which includes 88 gold bracelet events — will take place as planned.
- Immediate reactions were mostly negative and many poker players initially stated that they would not be making the trip to Sin City because of the new rule.
In Major U-Turn, Unlicensed Operators Now Have to Exit Dutch Market from November 1 (September 2021)
Top line: “In what appears to be a major blow to Dutch online poker players and the industry, Sander Dekker — serving as the country’s Minister for Legal Protection — has instructed the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the country’s gaming regulatory board, to enforce new rulings just ten days ahead of the new regulation;”
Key takeaways:
- Dutch minister has instructed regulators to enforce new rulings just ten days ahead of the new regulation in the country.
- Under the new ruling, unlicensed operators that have been accepting players from the Netherlands will need to cease their operations in the country by November 1.
- PokerStars, partypoker, Unibet, 888poker will have to stop accepting players from the Netherlands until they get officially licensed.
- GGPoker is the biggest benefactor of the latest ruling as the operator is expected to receive the regulatory license and be ready by October.
For the First Time in Five Years, Partypoker US Network Leads the New Jersey Online Poker Market (October 2021)
Top line: “The trio of the partypoker US Network skins (BetMGM, Borgata, and partypoker) operating under the Borgata license outperformed the competition in New Jersey during the month of September.”
Key takeaways:
- The trio of the partypoker US Network skins operating under the Borgata license outperformed the competition in New Jersey during the month of September.
- The Borgata license captured the market lead for the first time since there have been three online poker licensees in the market.
- Borgata Poker NJ, BetMGM Poker NJ, and partypoker NJ combined for just a little over $1 million during September.
- As a whole, the regulated New Jersey online poker market generated $2.5 million, slightly down on an annual basis.
WSOP Europe Main Event Sets New Attendance Record Amidst Covid Restrictions (December 2021)
Top line: “The 2021 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event enjoyed a record-breaking event, attracting nearly 700 entries, the most in its 14-year-long history.”
Key takeaways:
- The 2021 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event enjoyed a record-breaking event, attracting nearly 700 entries, the most in its 14-year-long history.
- This success occured despite the fact that the world is still reeling from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
- In total, the €10,350 buy-in Main pulled in 688 entries across its two days of starting flights.
- A majority of the events outperformed the events that ran in 2019, showing that there is a huge appetite for live poker.
