Nevada Online Poker Takes A Major Hit In August

Nevada’s online poker market took a major hit in August, after the state’s three regulated poker sites experienced a 22.5% fall inrevenues to $742,000, down by $243,000 compared to July’s tally. August’s figure also represented Nevada’s lowest monthly total of 2014 so far, but despite the disappointing results it was not all gloom and doom.
The Silver State, for instance, actually recorded an 8.65% rise in online poker revenues when compared to the $677,000 generated by the state in August 2013. Furthermore, industry analyst had already warned that the end of the summer months would inevitably lead to a fall in revenues, especially after the 45th World Series of Poker drew to a close, putting an end to the highly successful collaboration between the popular tournament series and Nevada’s WSOP.com website.
Nevertheless, the WSOP seems to have permanently changed the landscape of Nevada’s iPoker market, and WSOP.com has now overtaken Ultimate Poker as the state’s most popular site, and is currently showing 100 cash game players over a week period, compared to just 60 for its embattled rival. Real Gaming’s woes are not just restricted to Nevada, either, and this month the company decided to pull its operation from New Jersey, citing problems with its now bankrupted land partner, the Trump Taj Mahal. Commenting on the issue, Ultimate’s senior VP Marc Falcone, explained:
“We wish things would have turned out differently for us. Unfortunately, as they say in poker, we were not dealt a good hand. We are owed about $1.5 million from Trump Entertainment. We in effect haven’t been paid for more than two months. Money that the site generated and that we are owed, we were never given.”
Meanwhile, back in Nevada WSOP.com has been marking its one year anniversary with a series of promotions, including the Anniversary Tournament Series, and has also signed 2012 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Merson to be the site’s first ever sponsored professional. Signalling further optimism ahead for WSOP.com, the company’s Head of Online Poker Bill Rini, commented:
“Greg is a terrific ambassador for the game of poker. He loves the game, is passionate and opinionated about its future, and he will help us spread the word about our offerings and ensure the poker playing community has a respected, experienced voice to help shape WSOP.com moving forward.”