Online poker’s continued decline in France was one of the main reasons why the country initiated the creation of a network that would see its player pool merged with those of Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
Now, as the four countries have just signed their first shared online poker liquidity agreement, it seems that it is a matter of time for the network to be launched. It is still too early to say whether the project will prove to be a great success or a complete failure and there are mixed opinions on the matter.
ARJEL, the French online gambling regulator, published on Wednesday information about the iGaming industry’s performance in the second quarter of the year. Although general results were positive, this cannot be said about cash game online poker.
On a positive note, overall online poker revenue totaled €57 million during the three months ended June 30, 2017, up 3% from the €55 million posted for the same period of 2016. Revenue from tournament poker amounted to €34.6 million during the reported period, up 6% from 2016. Entry fees from poker tournaments increased 2% year-on-year to €460 million.
However, while tournament poker has enjoyed a continued growth since 2012, this cannot be said about cash games. Unfortunately, the downward trend was kept in the second quarter of 2017.
ARJEL figures show that cash game revenue decreased 1% during the reviewed period to €22 million, while cash game stakes dropped 0.4% year-on-year to €850 million. Here it is also important to note that stakes plunged from €6.2 billion in 2012 to €3.6 billion in 2016. In comparison, entry fees for tournaments grew from almost €1.4 billion in 2012 to nearly €1.9 billion in 2016. The same movements can be spotted in revenue terms.
Cash game poker’s instability was what urged regulators and politicians to consider partnerships with other European regulated jurisdictions. France’s online poker market is a ring-fenced one, which gives players no opportunities to participate in larger pools. The situation is quite similar in Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
And cash game poker has not been performing particularly well in Spain and Italy over the years. Portugal’s market was opened only late in 2016, so it is too early for it to be properly assessed. Regulators are optimistic that all four jurisdictions will benefit from the shared liquidity project and online poker will finally see long-anticipated improvement.
While the plan and its implementation have been watched closely by the industry, many believe that there will be too many hurdles before it, different taxation regimes in each of the four countries included, and that these will hamper the project’s success.
