Strong Quarterly Growth for Online Poker in Spain, But Player Participation Flattens

The second quarterly report from Spanish regulator DGOJ shows strong growth in both poker cash games and tournaments, though flat levels of player participation suggest the growth will slow in 2013.

Released earlier this week, the report shows poker has seen double digit growth and is producing a third of the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) in the market. GGR from tournaments grew at 21% compared with the previous quarter, while cash game GGR grew 16%.

Rapid growth followed the introduction of national gaming regulation in June of last year.

However, contrary to the headline numbers, that growth has almost ceased. The final three months of 2012 saw a decline in the average number of active players which followed through to an actual decline in GGR in December.

Quarter on quarter figures look strong, but the detail shows that growth is likely to be much lower in 2013. The graph of average monthly active players is telling. While there has been a steady acquisition rate of new players, the monthly average player numbers have been declining since September.

25% GGR taxes are high, and Spanish gaming operators are lobbying for a reduction. In the fiscally constrained atmosphere prevailing on the Iberian peninsula, this looks like a vain aspiration.

Spain’s financial crisis with unemployment heading for 30% casts a shadow over the whole economy, and the gaming sector has not escaped its effects. A pessimistic reading of the data would suggest the market has reached its plateau without changes to the current tax and regulatory system; optimists will see grow potential if unemployment in the region falls.

The DGOJ Director Enrique Alejo has made several statements where he expresses his support for shared liquidity pools across other regulated European nations, and earlier this month was confident that by the end of the year Italy and Spain could combine its online poker pools.