Pennsylvania Online Poker Settles Down in January

Last updated on February 20th, 2020

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The very new Pennsylvania online poker market is still finding its footing. There is still only one regulated site – PokerStars – offering poker in the state, and it has now only had two full months plus a third partial one in the books. The revenue was down slightly in January over the previous months, but it’s still in its infancy.

In total, per the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), January was a good month for all of Pennsylvania gaming, with revenue up 16.94% year-on-year. Casinos reported $302,844,383 in total revenue last month.

Internet gaming, including online poker, was up 31.4% from December 2019, and sports wagering was up 1.7% from December.

As internet gaming takes a stronger foothold and grows, especially with another poker site or two in 2020, it will be a more significant contributor to the overall gambling industry in Pennsylvania.

PA Online Poker Revenue

As mentioned, PokerStars remains the only poker site in Pennsylvania regulated by the state’s regulator. It launched several days into November, so the full month revenue for the past three months doesn’t give an exact picture. Nevertheless, it deserves attention:

–PA online poker revenue in January 2020: $2,157,266 (12.8% decrease)
–PA online poker revenue in December 2019: $2,473,137 (25.8% increase)
–PA online poker revenue in November 2019: $1,965,494

To view a more accurate picture, we can break it down by average per-day revenue each month:

–PA average online poker revenue per day in January 2020: $69,589.23 (10.5% decrease)
–PA average online poker revenue per day in December 2019: $77,778.61 (1.1% decrease)
–PA average online poker revenue per day in November 2019: $78,619.76

These figures show a marked decrease in revenue in January over the first two months of activity. This is not particularly unexpected. The first month of new poker with a familiar poker site in Pennsylvania logically brought many excited players to the tables. As the newness wore down a bit, players spent less time and money on poker.

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PA Internet Gaming Revenue

Online casino games have been running for more than six months, so this presents a different picture of the overall internet gaming sector. Revenue has been steadily climbing with seven sites now offering online casino games.

The year-end numbers for 2019 were reported last month, and those showed nearly $33.6 million in revenue collected through the end of the year.

For the seven sites offering internet gaming thus far, we’ll start with the beginning of this year and go forward as the months progress. The January 2020 numbers were listed as follows:

–Rivers Casino Philadelphia = $3,549,970 (slots = $2,420,204, table games = $1,129,765)
–Mount Airy Casino = $3,480,095 (slots = $589,879, table games = $732,950, poker = $2,157,266)
–Hollywood Casino = $2,405,023 (slots = $2,143,292, table games = $261,731)
–Valley Forge Casino = $2,081,252 (slots = $375,442, table games = $1,705,810)
–Parx Casino = $1,644,854 (slots = $1,154,368, table games = $490,486)
–Mohegan Sun Pocono = $786,447 (slots = $505,867, table games = $280,580)
–Presque Isle Downs & Casino = $9,898 (slots = $3,139, table games = $6,759)

The two new revenue streams are from sites that launched in January. Valley Forge opened its sites on January 24 and did quite well for its first week. Presque Isle Downs and Casino launched only on January 30, only recording revenue for two days.

For all of internet gaming, revenue in January of the new year totaled nearly $14 million, with nearly $5 million of that dedicated to taxes.

PA Sports Betting Revenue

As for sports betting, Pennsylvania has shown growth in the past few months and is now offered through 12 establishments. The revenue totals for January were:

–Valley Forge Casino Resort = $156,080,599 ($391,012 retail, $7,696,874 online)
–Meadows Racetrack & Casino = $60,234,745 ($212,073 retail, $2,835,089 online)
–Rivers Philadelphia = $35,766,620 ($1,148,093 retail, $2,190,024 online)
–Rivers Pittsburgh = $32,520,067 ($791,877 retail, $1,696,898 online)
–Parx Casino = $27,926,078 ($875,269 retail, $2,041,480 online)
–Mount Airy Casino Resort = $16,109,696 ($81,793 retail, $1,290,925 online)
–Mohegan Sun Pocono = $6,712,251 ($137,702 retail, $126,879 online)
–Presque Isle Downs & Casino = $3,431,482 ($281,753 retail, $44,717 online)
–South Philly Race & Sportsbook = $3,031,265 ($501,515 retail, $2,529,750 online)
–Harrah’s Philadelphia = $2,997,474 ($219,597 retail, $2,777,877 online)
–Hollywood Casino at Penn National = $2,597,979 ($180,249 retail, $2,417,730 online)
–Oaks Race & Sportsbook = $973,451 ($97,394 retail, $876,057 online)