The tiny state of Delaware has seen their monthly iGaming net revenues for August increase by 54% year-on-year, but online poker shows a 7% spiral south.
Planet Poker, do you remember them?
It was 1998 when Randy Blumer launched the first real-money online poker site. Mike Caro packed up his Book of Tells and joined as an ambassador.
Few, if any, new online poker players will have heard of Planet Poker, but without them making the first dirty footprints in the settled cyber soil of the online poker world, things would look a tad different today. And I think about that when I chuckle at the online poker revenue numbers that show up on the Delaware Lottery iGaming monthly financial wrap sheet.
With a population of only 945,000 people, the 45th lowest of all the not so United States of America, they were never going to revolutionise the Stateside regulated and licensed online poker market, but we should respect them as pioneers.
In August, the three racinos of Delaware Park, Dover Downs, and Harrington Raceway pulled in a combined net revenue of $29,155.08 from their online poker tables, only 8k more than the buy-in for the Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller over at the PokerStars World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP).
Online poker isn’t tugging on Delaware heartstrings, and that’s despite the gambling regulators of both Delaware and Nevada striking a deal to share online poker liquidity in March 2015. The latest revenue numbers are a 7% dip, year-on-year.
It’s not all doom and gloom. The Delaware gambling fraternity might not be adding rake to the online poker tables, but they are continuing to gamble on the slots and table games with continued verve and vigour.
July saw the end of a six-month northward ascent in revenue numbers, but the summer figures have finished strongly with the monthly haul of $244,387.43 representing a 54% year-on-year increase from $158,979.70. All three Racinos saw a year-on-year upsurge:
Delaware Park up 65% year-on-year from $78,933.98 to $130,501.10
Dover Downs up 83% year-on-year from $51,941.13 to $95,268.14
Harrington up 54% year-on-year from $28,104.59 to $43,229.39
Here are the August 2015 Results
Table Games $43,469.29
Video Lottery $84,262.05
Poker $31,248.36
Total: $158,979.70
Here are the August 2016 Results:
Delaware Total
Table Games – $58,357.60
Video Lottery – $156,874.75
Poker – $29,155.08
Total -$244,387.43
Delaware Park
Table Games – $532,303.50
Video Lottery – $80,947.34
Poker – $17,250.26
Total – $130,501.10
Dover Downs
Table Games – $25,609.50
Video Lottery – $60,241.74
Poker – $9,416.90
Total – $95,268.14
Harrington
Table Games – $5,375.00
Video Lottery – $35,366.47
Poker – $2,487.92
Total – $43,229.39
The casinos attracted 306 new accounts, 76 more than the 2016 average of 230 signups per month.
Here are the results in full.
