Online poker revenues in Delaware have fallen to below the level they were before the compact to share player pools with Nevada went into operation.
Back in March, the sharing of player pools between Delaware and Nevada went into operation, with plenty of industry experts predicting that this would be springboard to launch multiple compacts between states when they got around to regulating online poker.
Well, if other states are reviewing Delaware´s figures for June – when cash game liquidity should have been at its highest due to the WSOP being held in Las Vegas – they may well reconsider whether forming compacts will be of any benefits to players.
A fall of 22% in revenues from $39,245 in May to $30,675 in June followed a fall of 19% in revenues in Delaware from April to May, and the three online poker sites in the state are now generating less in online poker revenues than they were in February – the month before the sharing of player pools went live.
Online Casino Revenues also on the Slippery Slope
Unlike in New Jersey – where increased online casino revenues are masking the plummeting revenues from online poker – revenues from online casinos and the video lottery in Delaware are also heading in a downward direction.
Online casino and lottery operators collected $108,692 in June – down nearly 18% on May´s figures and a colossal 44% down on the figures for June 2014 – while the number of new online gambling accounts created in June also declined, and are running at a rate 26% lower than in 2014.
Indeed, according to the Delaware Lottery Games website, the combined revenues in June from online poker, online casinos and the video lottery are the worst ever.
Overall a Bad Week for Regulated Poker in the US
Delaware´s disappointing figures come just days after it was revealed that [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/new-jersey-online-poker-revenues-continue-to-plummet/”]all is not well in the State of New Jersey[/geolink] – particularly when it comes to online poker revenues. The Garden State recorded its third consecutive decline in online poker revenues – which are now running at 36% lower than when the figures for the first full month of regulated online gambling were published in December 2013.
It was also sad to hear of the demise of Bluff Poker – one of the leading advocates of regulated online poker in the US. Bluff was acquired in 2012 by Churchill Downs in anticipation of widespread online poker regulation. Unfortunately the potential massive affiliate revenues failed to materialize, and – with little prospect of any state passing online poker legislation this year – the magazine´s owners decided to pull the plug.
If there is any glimmer of hope in the US regulated online poker market, it is the [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/why-888-acquisition-of-bwin-party-is-no-big-deal/”]acquisition of Bwin.Party by 888 Holdings[/geolink] (assuming it goes through). With Bwin.Party´s objections to compacts between New Jersey and other states now kicked into touch, there could be a further sharing of player pools between the three regulated states. It is only a glimmer of hope, it is not going to happen for years, but right now that´s the best we can offer poker players playing on regulated sites in the US.
