Nevada Poker Revenue Dips Slightly in 2014

2014 was an eventful year for the online poker industry in the US state of Nevada as it went through its first full year of existence. It became more established as a market, which saw a slight increase in players on the state’s online poker networks.

However, the increasing competition between networks took a major casualty in Ultimate Poker, which was the first network to launch an online poker service in Nevada.

While the year was a topsy-turvy one for online poker in the state, the bricks and mortar poker industry was a bit more stable. That could perhaps help to explain why 2014 poker revenues in Nevada were slightly down, but quite similar to the amount of revenue recorded in the state in 2013.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state’s revenue from poker in 2014 totaled US$119,904,000, which was down from the US$123,891,000 that was recorded the year before. While the dip was a seemingly insignificant 3 per cent decline, there may be significance in the fact that it was the first time in this decade that poker revenues have fallen below the US$120 million mark.

It is too early to say that this is indicative of any major or long lasting decrease in the poker playing in Nevada. The monthly revenues for the first half of this year may shed further light as to whether this is the case or not.

Last year’s overall figure is also $96,000 below the aforementioned $120 million milestone, which is not a high amount of money, at least not enough to be a major immediate cause of concern. What is potentially a cause of concern, though, is the fact that there was a 10 per cent decline in the number of poker rooms in Nevada in 2014, down to 79 from 88 in 2013.

Should that be a trend that continues throughout this year, it could lead to a further and larger fall in total revenues in 2015.

The release of the revenue figures did not come without critiques of the poker market, though, as the Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission Tony Alamo questioned whether the state’s online poker industry would be viable over the long term.

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