Poker has only been online in Pennsylvania for a little over a year—but what a year it has been.
Over the first four months of the second year of operation, PokerStars PA, still the only poker room operational in Pennsylvania, posted a monthly year-over-year increase of nearly 25%
The latest data released from the PA regulator shows that last month was actually its smallest in absolute revenue compared to the prior two months, but it represents growth of 37.7% compared to the same month last year—the best year-over-year growth on record.
Total revenue last month topped $2.5 million. This beats the first months around the launch of the second regulated PokerStars US site, and all months in the post-coronavirus-boom period of September to November 2020.
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In the first four months of operation, the PA market raked in almost $8.5 million in total revenue. The first four months of their second year have performed even better: From November 2020 through February of 2021, the operator posted revenues of $10.4 million, an increase of almost 23%.
Strong First Year
PokerStars hit the ground running in PA in late 2019 as the only online poker option for players in the state. In their first month, it made nearly $2 million in revenue and, with the single exception of February 2020, it has posted more than $2 million in revenue for every month since.
Over their first full year of operation (November 2019 – October 2020), PokerStars PA raked in more than $35 million in total revenue. As was the case with all operators at the beginning of the pandemic, PokerStars PA saw a huge uptick in their revenue figures starting in March 2020, posting their first month of more than $3 million, then following that up with a $5+ million April and better than $4.5 million in May.
After the initial early pandemic bump, revenue numbers for the remainder of the first year dropped again, but remained solid. From June through October of 2020, the site banked more than $13.75 million in total revenue, averaging more than $2.75 million per month.
Market Comparison for 2020
2020 is the first year where data from multiple US markets is available, but it is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. In New Jersey, PokerStars faces fierce competition for poker dollars from 888poker/WSOP and the partypoker US Network. In PA, PokerStars is currently the only option for players looking to play online poker.
That monopoly meant PokerStars PA earned nearly $19 million in revenue in 2020, significantly higher than their $12,611,564 share of the New Jersey market. The total NJ market was nearly $40 million in across the three poker rooms operating, giving a hint to the potential in PA.
With a larger population than NJ, the Pennsylvania market is sure to expand over 2021. There are rumors of partypoker US Network eyeing PA poker. 888poker, in conjunction with WSOP, has already announced plans to move into PA in the first half of 2021.
There is plenty of room to expand in PA, so it’s likely PokerStars won’t have their monopoly for long. Their success as the first operator in the game is clear, but it remains to be seen how much of the market they can hold on to when PA players have more than one option.
