- A dozen of our top picks from PRO’s featured articles from 2021, covering a wide variety of topics including the transformation of online poker under Coronavirus, global market analysis, Kentucky vs PokerStars case, and much more.
After One No-Show, One DQ and a Four-Day Delay, WSOP Crowns Damian Salas 2020 Main Event Champion (January 2021)
Top line: “On Sunday, January 3, the World Series of Poker crowned a winner in the annual $10,000 flagship Main Event at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.”
Key takeaways:
- On Sunday, January 3, the World Series of Poker crowned a winner in the annual $10,000 flagship Main Event.
- The unique event — involving two tournaments played out online, two final tables, and one heads up event — had its snags.
- “Both these men are champions in their own right and were a pleasure to host for this unique match.”
Online Poker in 2021: Where the Industry is Today, One Year After the Coronavirus Outbreak (April 2021)
Top line: “PRO takes a look at the top five online poker operators and their performance in 2020 into 2021.”
Key takeaways:
- The online gambling industry had a very strong 2020 and online poker was one of the industry’s top performers.
- Poker saw a natural growth surge around April that lasted to early summer, with operators enjoying double the usual seasonal player numbers.
- Cash game numbers have hinted at long-term retention among many of the top online poker rooms.
- Revenue among these four operators is estimated to have been just shy of $1 billion in 2019; in 2020, it is estimated to have exceeded $1.2 billion.
Revenue Numbers from Spain, France Highlight Online Poker’s Transformation Under Coronavirus Last Year (April 2021)
Top line: “Revenue numbers from regulated operators in two of Europe’s largest online poker markets show the dramatic transformation of the industry over the last year. It is one that saw revenue more than double in late spring, subside in the back half of the year, but ultimately show a surprising resilience…”
Key takeaways:
- It is, by far, the best performing year in market history and one of the best annual growth rates ever observed.
- This dramatic transformation is perhaps no clearer seen than in the data released from the regulators of France and Spain.
- The surge of interest in poker was not restricted to just a few weeks in late spring.
- The best signals yet suggest that many players continue to enjoy their newfound online poker entertainment, one year on.
Inside Game Lab, Unibet’s All-New In-Client Play Stats Tool (July 2021)
Top line: “Alongside its new loyalty program, independent online poker room Unibet Poker has launched Game Lab, a new play statistics tool built into the online poker client.”
Key takeaways:
- Launching Game Lab transports the user to a fresh new interface, accompanied by background music, slick animations, and smooth transitions.
- Game Lab is split into five distinct sections, presented in a dedicated tab in the online poker lobby.
- Each is split into sub-panels and each is only unlocked if the player obtains a certain rewards level.
- The School tab provides comprehensive stats on actual playstyle, as well as recommendations to improve.
How Online Poker Operators are Gearing Up for the 2021 WSOP in Las Vegas (August 2021)
Top line: “The in-person 2021 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas is just over one month away. While there is no certainty yet whether or not the live poker festival of the year will proceed as planned from September 30 to November 23, several online poker sites are offering satellites with packages for a trip to Sin City;”
Key takeaways:
- Several online poker sites are offering satellites with packages for a trip to Vegas, despite uncertainties about whether the WSOP live series will go as planned or not.
- The WSOP itself is hosting $10,000 Main Event qualifiers in three regulated US states, as well as GGPoker for the international player pool.
- 888poker, Natural8, Americas Cardroom are offering unofficial packages to the WSOP Main Event.
WSOP International Online Bracelet Series on GGPoker Wraps Up with $90 Million in Prize Money (September 2021)
Top line: “The curtains have finally fallen on the international portion of the WSOP online bracelet festival held on GGPoker. After more than six weeks of action, all of the 33 coveted gold bracelets have been awarded.”
Key takeaways:
- At the end of over six weeks of action, all of the 33 coveted gold bracelets have been awarded.
- As per numbers compiled by PRO, a total of $90 million in prize money has been dished out to those who have made it into the money.
- A staggering 127,969 entries were recorded throughout the 33-bracelet event schedule that kicked off on August 1.
Largest WCOOP Festival in History Pays Out $122 Million in Prize Money (September 2021)
Top line: “Tournament players will likely get a breather as the last remaining high-profile festival of the month is finally in the rear-view mirror.”
Key takeaways:
- The 20th edition of PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) wound down on Wednesday night, ending in jubilant fashion.
- $122.5 million in prize money was generated across the series, attracting a staggering 1.4 million entries.
- Roughly 14% of the schedule fell short, totaling $1.1 million in overlays.
In-Depth: PokerStars Settles Decade-Old Legal Battle with Kentucky for $300 Million (September 2021)
Top line: “Flutter Entertainment plc. — parent company of PokerStars — has settled with the state of Kentucky regarding an 11-year old claim to collect losses on behalf of Kentucky players that played on PokerStars during a period between 2006 and 2011.”
Key takeaways:
- In December last year, the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned a previous Court of Appeals decision.
- As part of this week’s deal, Flutter will pay a further $200 million to settle the case, bringing the total to $300 million.
- “The legal dispute between Flutter and the Commonwealth of Kentucky has now been settled in full.”
PokerStars to Make Sochi Online Poker Client Mandatory (October 2021)
Top line: “Online poker giant PokerStars will close its international online poker client to Russian players, requiring them all to download their dedicated “Sochi” client to continue playing, PRO has learned.”
Key takeaways:
- It is a sanctioned online poker room that facilitates players qualifying to live events held in the country, like the upcoming EPT Sochi 2022.
- It also gives access to the full online poker experience, with all international cash game tables and tournament series available.
- For the last three years, the Sochi client has been available to download from a special domain, PokerStarsInSochi.com.
- With the mandatory transition to PokerStars Sochi, the window to other iGaming verticals for Russians looks set to close.
In-Depth: How PokerStars is Pulling Out All the Stops to Keep Up Sunday Million Attendance (November 2021)
Top line: “PokerStars’ iconic Sunday Million tournament has been struggling to meet its guarantee when run as a regular edition.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars’ longest-running Sunday Million tournament has been struggling to meet its guarantee lately when run as a regular edition.
- Last Sunday, the $109 buy-in tournament attracted 9154 entries falling short of its requisite 10,000 figure leading to an overlay of $84,600.
- As per data compiled by PRO, last Sunday was the sixth time that the flagship tournament fell short of its million-dollar guarantee this year.
- The shortfalls not only have increased in frequency but the size of overlays has gone up significantly.
The Third Largest Poker Tournament Series in History: WSOP 2021, By the Numbers (November 2021)
Top line: “After 54 days and nearly 100 gold bracelets winners, thousands of players, and hundreds of millions in prize money awarded, the first World Series of Poker in a post-covid world is finally in the books.”
Key takeaways:
- The 52nd Annual World Series of Poker paid out $237,986,230 million in prize money and collected 127,245 entrants over 99 gold bracelet events.
- Compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 year, overall participation, as anticipated, was down with many of the events seeing a drop of 20-40% in the field size
- Yet despite the challenging times, this year’s WSOP was the third-largest series in absolute prize money awarded and the second-biggest in terms of turnout.
- For its efforts, the WSOP officials pocketed $21.2 million across the entire 88 live bracelet events.
In-Depth: GGPoker Expands European Footprint Once Again with Romanian Launch (November 2021)
Top line: “GGPoker has launched a regulated online poker room in Romania. It becomes the operator’s fourth GG-branded online poker room licensed in a European country, and the seventh on the wide GGPN network.”
Key takeaways:
- GGPoker has launched a regulated online poker room in Romania.
- It becomes the operator’s fourth GG-branded online poker room licensed in a European country, and the seventh on the wide GGPN network.
- GGPoker has partnered with Skywind Group — an Isle of Man-based business-to-business provider of casino content and iGaming solutions — to bring its services into Romania.
- The pair have formed a joint venture, WindGG, and opted to launch the game on the PlayGG.RO domain.
