- In the fifth and final installment of our PRO Predicts series, we lay out the key dates, projections, upcoming changes, and trends that we are expecting over the remainder of the year.
- How long will we feel the effects of the Russo-Ukrainian War on the global poker markets?
- What do we think will happen when the regulated Ontario market opens next month?
- Which state (or states) do we think are next to legalize online poker before the end of the year?
In the fifth and final installment of our PRO Predicts series, we change our track a bit. Instead of gazing into the crystal ball and making bold industry predictions as we did in our previous four installments, in this article, we will lay out the key dates, projections, upcoming changes, and trends that we are expecting over the remainder of the year across the global poker industry.
Before we dive into that, let us take a look at what has already transpired during the first quarter of 2022.
It has certainly been a busy start to the year and, while we have already hit some of our predictions including GGPoker deepening its partnership with WSOP in the upcoming Ontario gaming market, we were off for some.
What has happened thus far?
- Multiple operators announced their return to live poker.
- PokerStars USA experienced an unprecedented four-day outage.
- Ontario unveiled plans for regulated iGaming market; online poker to remain segregated.
- There have been multiple ambassador shake ups across multiple poker rooms.
- WSOP revealed an 88-bracelet schedule and revoked the vaccine mandate.
- The battle raged on between the two giants in the PokerStars vs GGPoker throwdown.
- Global online poker cash game traffic plummeted amidst the Russo-Ukrainian war.
- Run It Once Poker was acquired by Rush Street Interactive.
- GGPoker/WSOP and 888poker secured Ontario iGaming licenses for the new regulated market opening up on April 4.
- New York legislators introduced an iGaming bill that would legalize online poker and online casino gaming.
- Multiple fines were levied by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
- PokerStars suspended its operations in Russia, amid the wake of the Ukraine invasion
Predictions are never easy, especially when paired with unforeseen events like a global pandemic or a major conflict between two countries that impacts the whole world. With that in mind, let us take a look at what could be in store across the industry for the remaining three quarters of 2022.
There are still 20 days remaining in the first quarter and, before we look ahead at Q’s 2 – 4, let’s speculate what could be happening over the final days of Q1 2022.
