Almost one year into its existence, the online poker industry in Nevada has finally released their first financial figures. Nevada Gaming Control Board regulations stated that such numbers would not be released until three outlets were underway and, with the opening of the South Point Casino’s Real Gaming recently, that goal was met. Those numbers weren’t quite what was expected when Nevada opened its doors to the online poker industry, however.
On Wednesday, the NGCB reported that, for the month of February, online poker revenues from the three companies that offer the outlet was only $824,000. Since its inception in April 2013, it is estimated that there has been approximately $8 million brought in by the three rooms, Ultimate Poker (owned by Fertita Interactive), WSOP.com (Caesars Entertainment) and Real Gaming (South Point), an average which would break down to less than $1 million per month of operation. Cy Ryan of the Las Vegas Sun put that into perspective in reporting that the only gaming operation that online poker was ahead of was the state’s bingo operations, which drew in $490,000 for the month.
With such dismal numbers, many of the companies that have been granted licenses have decided to wait on the sidelines to see if there is any increase in action. In their meeting Wednesday, the NGCB granted six month extensions to several casinos – MGM, the Golden Nugget, Boyd Interactive, Z4Poker (all in Las Vegas) and the Grand Siena and Boomtown Reno Truckstop (both Reno) – so that their ability to get into the Nevada online gaming industry wouldn’t expire on them. Strangely enough, these companies have already put up a $500,000 entrance fee for initial startup and are expected to contribute $250,000 per year of licensing.
The meeting seemed to be a nervous one for all involved. Ryan reports that the chairman of the NGCB, A. G. Burnett, believes that “people are weighing the market” before deciding whether to join the Nevada online poker scene or not. An attorney for MGM Resorts, Ellen Whittemore, echoed Burnett’s comments in saying that her company was “continuing to monitor” if there was a pickup to the traffic. One company, however, seems to have made their decision on the situation.
According to Ryan, the attorney for the Max in Las Vegas and the Carson Station in Carson City, Jeff Silver, reported some grim numbers to the NGCB that would determine the viability of online poker in Nevada. Silver pointed out that, at this current time, there are only 150 people online at a given time; Silver estimates that, for viability, a total of 500 players are needed for a room. Outside of the meeting room, Ryan reports that Silver called online poker “a loser.”
Unfortunately, the accounting by Silver is correct. According to PokerScout.com, the top room in Nevada is WSOP.com, which is currently averaging 100 players over the last seven days (42nd in the industry). Ultimate Poker is averaging 70 players over the same time period (ranked 52nd) and Real Gaming has yet to make a dent on the seven day average board (ranked 73rd). Although the state of Nevada recently compacted with Delaware for online poker (time frame expected to be in the second half of 2014 or the beginning of 2015), Delaware Poker averages 14 players over a seven day period (62nd), which isn’t going to be a windfall for the operations in existence.
The one thing that may open the Nevada online gaming scene up further – going to a full online casino outlet – isn’t going to happen anytime soon. According to Ryan, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has previously stated he does not support full online casino gaming for Nevada residents. Even if there were popular support for such a move (the casino giants that are offering online poker are happy with that but may be a bit less supportive of something that would cut into overall revenues), it would take a rewriting of the state’s regulations regarding online gaming before such innovations could be introduced.
