Delaware Online Gambling Up 3.7% To $145,276 In January

The Delaware Lottery has released its online gambling results for January, revealing a 3.7% rise in revenues to $145,276, compared to December. However, the modest growth is down considerably from the 57% increase reported from November to December.
Poker still accounts for the biggest slice of Delaware’s online gambling industry, or 61% of overall online gaming revenues, but worryingly last month net revenue across the state’s three sites fell by 17% to $88,390, compared to the $106,992 taken in December. Breaking the figures down further, the Delaware Park poker room reported a 26.7% decline in poker revenues, Harrington was down by 24%, while Dover Downs actually saw an increase in its revenues by  15%.
Originally, Delaware officials had forecast $5 million in revenue for year one, with the first $3.75 million then going directly to the state. However, with just 4,000 online gambling accounts created by the end of January out of a state population of 917,092, and an average of only 18 people playing online at any given time, The Diamond State will be hard pressed to even generate $1.7 million in 2014.
“When you are doing online gaming in a state like Delaware, there is just not enough population to bring in much revenue. Unless you have bigger states involved, it’s not going to work,” explained KeyBanc Capital Markets investment banker Jay Masurekar.
So far, just three of the 50 US states have regulated internet gambling markets, and forming compact agreements to improve online poker player liquidity is increasingly being seen as necessary in order to support a viable, competitive internet gaming environment. This week, both Nevada and Delaware have taken one step closer to making that a reality after Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed an online poker agreement establishing a legal framework to permit players from both states to compete against each other.