US iGaming Mostly Strong Except for Online Poker
The US internet gaming market is still growing. As many of the pandemic boosts begin to fade, most states had an initial realization period, realizing that people were free to leave their homes to gamble and find other entertainment again. Since then, though, igaming sites continue on an upward trend overall.
Online poker has reverted back to its pre-pandemic ways. After significant boosts during the lockdowns of 2020, online poker is back to an unsure place in the market. Half of the online poker states saw monthly revenue increases in September, and the other half did not.
There is still one standout reason for the inability for online poker to grow: the lack of interstate poker. After all these years, the only states signed on to the multistate online poker agreement are Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. And only WSOP.com is connected via that agreement. Pennsylvania has been running online poker for several years, and Michigan started this January. In addition, West Virginia and Connecticut legalized state-regulated online poker, but no operators have expressed interest in launching sites there.
The online poker market is stagnant – at best – until more states partner to make it work.
Let’s look at the September revenue numbers for each state.
Delaware: September 2021
For the second month in a row, the Delaware Lottery showed significant drops in online poker revenue. In fact, the statistics for the month of September showed dips in almost every category monthly and yearly.
–September 2021 online poker rake & fees: $27,134.00
–August 2021 online poker: $32,332.17
–September 2020 online poker: $51,403.61
Month-on-month: 16.1% decrease
Year-on-year: 47.2% decrease
Online table games dropped significantly from August to September. Video lottery and poker losses only added to that downturn. As for year-on-year numbers, video lottery revenue was the only one with a positive swing, cushioning the pain of the other decreases.
–September 2021 igaming revenue: $794,644.33
–August 2021 igaming: $945,512.49
–September 2020 igaming: $840,146.49
Month-on-month: 16% decrease
Year-on-year: 5.4% decrease
Again, new customer signups rose, though only very slightly by 0.9% from August. Yearly, that number increased by 78.2% from 546 in 2020 to 973 in 2021. That doesn’t seem to square with the other revenue changes.
Michigan: September 2021
The new Michigan market is still growing. Since the launch of igaming sites in January and the addition of more sites in the months since, the state has catapulted to new heights. In September, igaming revenue surpassed $100M for the month. Again, though, there is no breakout for online poker, so its performance is unknown.
–September 2021 internet gaming gross receipts: $102,380,221.90
–August 2021 igaming: $97,197,617.44
Month-on-month: 5.3% increase
In similar fashion, total adjusted gross receipts came in at $92,267,565 for a 5.4% monthly increase. And the amount paid to state taxes totaled $18,869,077.63, up 5.5%.
Nevada: September 2021
Nevada does not report its online poker revenue. The WSOP online poker site chooses not to reveal its revenue. Same story for years.
New Jersey: September 2021
The growth trend for online poker hasn’t been half bad for the last few months. There had been a slight dip in August, but September inched the number back up 2%. Baby steps are all the online poker industry can ask for.
–September 2021 internet poker win: $2,491,901
–August 2021 internet poker: $2,443,414
–September 2020 internet poker: $2,554,216
Month-on-month: 2% increase
Year-on-year: 2.4% decrease
The rest of the market held its own, as it does every month. Online slots and table games prop up the internet gaming sector as a whole.
–September 2021 internet gaming win: $122,594,948
–August 2021 internet gaming: $113,230,701
–September 2020 internet gaming: $87,633,697
Month-on-month: 8.3% increase
Year-on-year: 39.9% increase
Most other parts of the New Jersey gambling industry did well, too. Sports betting revenue increased 58.5% on the month and 82.9% on the year. Casinos dipped 5.3% monthly, but the entire industry’s revenue shot up 6.1% from August and 40.3% from September 2020.
Pennsylvania: September 2021
After two months of online poker growth in Pennsylvania, revenue was down in September for the month. Yearly growth remained on point.
–September 2021 internet poker revenue: $2,924,846
–August 2021 internet poker: $3,196,992
–September 2020 internet poker: $2,376,045
Month-on-month: 8.5% decrease
Year-on-year: 23.1% increase
The rest of the igaming market did well monthly and yearly. Online table games saw the most growth month-on-month at 37.2% and 78% for the year. Altogether, though, it held up the igaming sector.
–September 2021 internet gaming revenue: $97,828,447
–August 2021 igaming: $88,719,021
–September 2020 igaming: $57,041,936
Month-on-month: 10.3% increase
Year-on-year: 71.5% increase
Sports betting is coming into its own. Not only did its revenue bump up 5.7% from the previous month, it catapulted 351% from the previous year. The entire gambling industry in Pennsylvania grew 1.9% from August and 45.6% from 2020 to 2021.
