Nevada Poker Rooms Experience A Decade Long Decline

A study was recently conducted on the state of poker in Nevada, by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) Center for Gaming Research. The research was carried out using historical data provided by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and ultimately revealed what people in the industry have known for some time, namely that the game has been on a steady decline for almost a decade.
This is evidently a worrying trend for Nevada, which collects 10% of poker industry earnings by way of taxes. In fact, Nevada poker revenues hit a peak of $167,975 in 2006, the year the WSOP Main Event attracted a record field of 8,773 players, but by 2012 that amount subsequently fell to just $123,253.
Nevertheless, it was a few years earlier that Chris Moneymaker helped spark the ‘poker boom’ by winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event. As a result, poker revenues rose by 18% that year compared to 2002, and in 2004 that figure was higher by 44.8% compared to the previous year, and again in 2005 by a further 42%
The unprecedented popularity of poker at that time saw the game being broadcast across many mainstream media outlets, including ESPN, Fox Sports, and even the Game Show Network. Numerous poker rooms also sprung up across Nevada, and the statistics are quite revealing, too. In 2003, for instance, there were 58 poker rooms spread out across the Silver State, rising to 114 in 2009, but as of now there are a mere 80 poker rooms in Nevada, which is lower than their pre-boom figure of 92 rooms in 1992.
Consequently, the game of poker has had to reinvent itself in recent times, and maintain its relevance amongst a new generation of consumers. Nevada introducing regulated online poker in 2013 was an attempt to restore growth to the poker industry, but unfortunately its impact has been limited at most. More recently, Alex Dreyfus has introduced his new innovation called the Global Poker League, but whether the concept will succeed in increasing the game’s popularity and produce another poker boom remains to be seen.