Pennsylvania Poker Revenue Hits a $400M Bar
The total of 10 Pennsylvania poker rooms brought the lifetime total to $402.5 million to date.
During the calendar year 2015 the poker rooms raked around $57,5 million and in calendar year 2016 about one million more – $58,6 million. Pennsylvania has had poker rooms since 2010 and the last two years have contributed to reaching the $400 million milestone in the second quarter if the financial 2017.
Poker revenue was virtually flat through the first five months of the year and according to figures from gaming regulators, Pennsylvania casino industry took $4.67 million in June from 225 poker tables spread across the state. In comparison to $4.41 million in June 2016, the revenue grew 5.9 percent this year.
The revenue recorded an 8.2 percent decline compared to May 2017 due to The World Series of Poker (WSOP) which lasted almost the entire June. The annual poker tournament draws players from across the country to Las Vegas and it clearly marred the Pennsylvania’s market in June.
According to WSOP figures, players from Pennsylvania accounted for 2,234 total entries from this summer’s 74-event bracelet schedule which was a little over 2 percent of 94,087 entries in total from US residents, and a solid 10th place when it comes to entries’ geography. California led the way with nearly 19,500 total entries. The $10,000 buy-in main event was played by nearly 150 Pennsylvanians.
In order not to disappoint its players, Pennsylvania is considering a plan to regulate online casinos, including peer-to-peer poker and the bill could pass this fall. They have been looking for five years now at legalizing and regulating casino games and things are heating up now as both the Senate and House have approved versions of a gambling expansion package that includes provisions to make it the fourth state with regulated online poker.
Nevertheless, the state hasn’t approved regulated online poker since 2013 although, in contrast, online gaming, including poker, is booming. Since Pennsylvania has about 12.7 people and can combine player pools with New Jersey, where online poker revenue has fallen year-over-year over the last few months, it could be a turning point for the industry.
Since the state would benefit a lot from gambling expansion, there’s been a strong motivation to sort out this issue.
