Online Poker Market Shares
The drain in liquidity away from the European facing poker websites towards PokerStars and FullTiltPoker continues unabated. The strength of these comapnies was emphasises in March 2011 when one of the world's largest gambling companies Wynn Resorts announced that it had entered into a strategic relationship? with PokerStars, with the companies seeking to secure the passage of federal legislation leagalising online poker; "upon passage of this legislation and acquisition of the appropriate license, the parties will jointly operate a regulated, US online poker site under PokerStarsWynn.com."?
We, at bettingmarket.com were the first internet betting website to comment upon the trend, when we focused upon PartyGamings 2007 fourth quarter results; "Perhaps of greatest concern is the fact that the Group's poker business saw a 9% fall in yield per active player day in the period, with poker revenue declining by 3% quarter on quarter to $72.6 million. This is probably the start of a trend which sees players move their money towards the more liquid US facing poker websites."
Come 2011 and the trend continues, with Playetch for example, when announcing its audited full year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2010, staing that poker revenue was down 19% to ?27.4m. When Betfair recently released an Interim Management Statement, alongside key performance indicators for the three month period ended 31 January 2011 the company said that poker revenue was down a startling 20.5% to £5.2m. The table below clearly reveals the extent to which PokerStars and FullTilt have come to dominate the online poker market. It is estimated that during the period under review the two companies had captured over 60% of the online poker market by value.
| Poker Company | October 2008 | October 2009 | October 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PokerStars | 30% | 29.6% | 38% |
| Fulltiltpoker | 15% | 20% | 24% |
| PartyPoker | 8% | 7% | 6% |
| Ipoker Network | 10% | 9% | 6% |
| Ongame Network/Pokerroom | 6% | 5% | 4% |
| Cereus Poker | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| Everest poker | 5% | 4.6% | 2.8% |
| Entraction3 | 3% | 3% | 2.5% |
| Cake Poker | 2.8% | 3.3% | 2.3% |
| Others | 13.2% | 10.8% | 10.4% |