Kindred Shows Online Poker Resilience as it Laps the Pandemic Q2 Kindred Shows Online Poker Resilience as it Laps the Pandemic Q2
Key Takeaways
  • This stands out as the only significant decline in online poker growth since it launched its independent online poker platform.
  • “This is mainly due to a higher level of activity last year during the initial lockdowns caused by COVID-19.”
  • Compared to Q2 2019, online poker revenue last quarter was up 63%, a CAGR of 28%.

Kindred Group, parent company of the independent Unibet Poker online poker platform, reported a strong Q2 last week, with an all-time high in active customers and gross winnings revenue up 55%.

In poker, revenue was down 22.7% year-over-year. This stands out as the only significant decline in online poker growth since it launched its independent online poker platform some seven years ago.

However, Q2 is lapping the explosion of interest in online poker one year ago, when the Covid-19 lockdowns across Europe led millions to seek at-home entertainment options.

“Gross winnings revenue from poker and other products amounted to GBP 15.9 million in the second quarter of 2021, a decrease of 7 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2020,” it was stated in the interim report. “This decline was driven by poker which fell by 23 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2020.”

“This is mainly due to a higher level of activity last year during the initial lockdowns caused by COVID-19 where disruption of sports events naturally encouraged players to spread their activity across other products,” it stated. “Poker actives in the second quarter of 2021 were also 15 per cent less than the second quarter of 2020.”

“Poker was the product that benefited the most from the sports cancellation last year,” stated Henrik Tjärnström during the earnings call on Friday.