Online poker in Pennsylvania generated $3.2 million in revenue during the month of June, according to figures released late last week by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Revenue figures continue to paint a positive picture of the new market despite two consecutive months of sequential decline. With the first half of the year already in the books, online poker in the state of Pennsylvania has generated $20.2 million.
PokerStars PA, still the sole online poker operator in the state, saw its revenue peak in April as people in Pennsylvania and around the world spent more time at home in an effort to slow the transmission of COVID-19.
But even though as of July 3 every county in state has reached the final phase of Governor Wolf’s three-phase reopening plan, revenue figures are still higher than expected for the month of June.
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In the neighboring state of New Jersey, June has traditionally been the lowest month of the first half of the year. And though WSOP.com has bucked that trend since it was allowed to combine its New Jersey player pool with Nevada and Delaware, the trend has held fast for the other operators in the market.
In Pennsylvania, the $3.2 million collected in rake and tournament fees during June ranks higher than any month prior to April 2020 when the market reached it high water mark with $5.3 million in revenue.
Pennsylvania Online Poker Cash Game Traffic
Cash game traffic in Pennsylvania has also subsided since its peak in April, when the 7-day moving average reached a high of 992 concurrent seats filled, according to online poker traffic statistics tracked by GameIntel and available exclusively on the Poker Industry PRO Data platform.
On June 26, traffic at PokerStars PA sunk to its lowest level in three-month before starting a new slightly upward trend that has continued for most of the month of July.
Still, the current traffic levels are far above the average of the nascent market, surpassing all pre-COVID levels outside of the first week of 2020, a time when PokerStars was hosting its cash game promotion, Card Hunt.
Comparing Online Poker in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Online poker operators in New Jersey were able to combine to post just enough revenue in June ($3.5 million) to surpass the PokerStars PA, making it just the second time this year that the state with a population of 9.2 million out earned its bigger neighbor with 12.7 million people.
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The disparity between the US’s two predominant online poker markets in June was also just enough for New Jersey to squeak past Pennsylvania in terms of revenue for the first half of the year.
Through the first six months, online poker in New Jersey generated $20.5 million while PokerStars Pennsylvania posted $20.2 million in revenue over the same period.
Partypoker US Coming to Pennsylvania Soon
The Pennsylvania online poker market is set to expand, and that expansion may come as soon as next month.
In an exclusive comment to pokerfuse earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) confirmed that the partypoker US Network is currently in testing.
As the future home of partypoker PA and BetMGM PA, the partypoker US Network could launch as soon ROAR, the US online gaming and sports betting company that is a joint venture between MGM and partpoker parent company GVC, receives approval from the PGCB.
That approval is expected to come during the next PGCB meeting scheduled for Wednesday August 5, according to the Chief Enforcement Counsel for the PGCB, Cyrus Pitre.
Further Expansion of the Pennsylvania Online Poker Market
In addition to the launch of the partypoker US Network in Pennsylvania, the market may also see the launch of WSOP PA in the near future.
Once thought to be in line to become the second online poker room in the state, WSOP.com may also launch in 2020, as many of the hurdles required for WSOP.com to go live have been cleared. However, the 888poker platform on which WSOP.com runs is still awaiting approval.
Expansion of the market could also come with a favorable conclusion to the federal Wire Act case.
Following the reinterpretation of the Wire Act by the Trump administration, which seeks to limit igaming that crosses state lines, the PGCB modified its regulations to try to confine its igaming market to take place completely within state borders.
If the US Department of Justice loses it appeal and abandons its efforts to constrict US interstate online poker, Pennsylvania could join the MultiState Internet Gaming Agreement (MIGA) and allow its operators to begin sharing their player pools with those that also operate in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware.
The state of Michigan could also launch its online poker market in 2020, and if it does, it could also join MIGA and even further expand the prospects for online poker in Pennsylvania.
